Spotlight on… Paris, France
Having hosted both the Olympic Games and Paralympics this year, the city of Paris has not seen its usual packed summer of live music activity, but with those sporting tournaments now confined to glorious history, the French capital has emerged with a new arena and a renewed vigour after its televised global showcase.
The music industry enjoys an enviable relationship with government in France, with subsidies available to venues and guaranteed wages for performing musicians, supporting a healthy marketplace and the capital city’s nighttime scene benefitting as a result.
While there is a plethora of small venues and clubs to provide stage time for emerging talent, chief executive of Blue Line Productions, Naïma Bourgaut, who runs two small venues – the 300-capacity FGO-Barbara and the 200-cap Les Trois Baudets – notes that in the 500-1,500 capacity, the city still lacks choices.
At the top end, Paris La Défense Arena director general, Raphaëlle Plasse, notes that the demand for the 45,000-capacity indoor stadium has been so strong that the sports side of the business has become secondary to live events. “We’re up to 70 events in the calendar, and we can host shows year-round because of our roof, so we’ve hosted some of the biggest artists in the world, as well as being one of the main venues for the Paris Olympics,” she says.
And with the Olympic Games also delivering the new Adidas Arena, the top end of the venues business has never been better-served, although the promoters who ply their trade in the city argue that there is still need for additional large-scale buildings.
Across the city at the 20,000-capacity Accor Arena, the calendar is similarly packed. “From our perspective, we proudly meet a unique demand for large-scale venues in Paris, which is also true for the three venues operated by Paris Entertainment Company,” says Nicolas Dupeux, who is now director general for the Accor Arena, Adidas Arena, and Le Bataclan.
“We provide artists with support that follows their growth and evolving demands”
“Adidas Arena meets a capacity need that was previously unavailable in Paris: with a seating capacity ranging from 6,000 to 9,000, and with the 1,600 seats at the Bataclan, the venues of the Paris Entertainment Company offer an unprecedented complementarity in France and even in Europe. We provide artists with support that follows their growth and evolving demands, covering the full spectrum of live venues and meeting all their needs.”
At the top of the stack of the city’s promoters are, unsurprisingly, AEG Presents and Live Nation, while the Parisian nightlife also provides work for a whole host of independent operators, including the likes of Lagardère, Öctöpus, Alias Production, Le Rat Des Villes, Radical Production, Gérard Drouot Productions, Corida Group, Take Me Out, Opus Live, Allo Floride, Vedettes, Astérios Spectacles, Pedro Booking, and Saloni Productions, to name but a few.
Servicing those promoters are ticket companies such as Fnac, FIMALAC, Ticketmaster, and France Billet, in which CTS Eventim recently announced it had increased its shareholding to 65%. And at press time, AXS was establishing its new French HQ in Paris, adding another level of ticketing choice for the venues and promoters working in France.
On the festival front, Paris boasts an eclectic array of gatherings to entertain fans. The choice includes Lollapalooza Paris, We Love Green, Pitchfork, Villette Sonique, Chorus Festival, Slam Dunk, Ideal Trouble, and Closer Music Festival, while in the suburbs, FBLO Festival is a regular in nearby Fontainebleau and Rock en Seine is held in Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, west of the capital.
And with the French authorities making Paris the star of this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, it’s anticipated that tourism numbers in the city will climb even higher in the years ahead, giving the city’s live music business opportunities for further growth as visitors search for holiday entertainment.
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IQ 131 out now: The first annual indie issue arrives
IQ 131, the latest issue of the international live music industry’s leading magazine, is available to read online now.
The November issue marks our first annual indie issue, celebrating the companies forging their own path in today’s live music business.
This edition launches the Indie Champions 2024 list (revealed tomorrow on IQ), examines the realities of running an indie company, and celebrates the anniversaries of Earth Agency and DHP’s George Akins.
Elsewhere, we bid farewell to the 10th edition of the International Festival Forum (IFF) and welcome you aboard the 37th instalment of the International Live Music Conference (aka ILM-Sea).
Meanwhile, this issue spotlights the live music business in Paris and Norway, and inspects the growing demand for festive family fun.
For this edition’s columns, Natasha Gregory (Mother Artists) examines the different ways in which people gauge success and Rob Sealy (Openstage) encourages artists to utilise data in order to make sure fans are not left disappointed during ticket on-sales.
A selection of magazine content will appear online in the next four weeks but to ensure your fix of essential live music industry features, opinion and analysis, click here to subscribe to IQ – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:
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Life begins at 40 for Paris’ Accor Arena
The team behind Paris’ Accor Arena tell IQ they are laying the groundwork for a new chapter for the French venue after celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The 20,300-cap arena in Bercy reached the milestone this year, marking the occasion with a live recording of flagship French TV show Taratata on 19 September.
The charity show, which saw the building return to business as usual after serving as a host venue for the Paris Olympics, starred a number of acts with links to the venue.
“We had 70 artists who had played at the arena in the last 40 years, so part of our history was represented on stage,” reports Accor Arena CEO Nicolas Dupeux. “We celebrated big time, but it was very emotional as well.
“2024 is a special year for us for two reasons. One, is because we hosted the Olympics. That is something you get to do just once in your life, so you can never forget it. And it’s our anniversary as well, so we combined two very strong events in the same year.”
“Artists wanted to go to Paris before, but they want now to come here even more”
Dupeux suggests the disruption caused to the arena’s traditional schedule by the Olympics was minimal, adding that the Games acted as the ultimate advert for the city.
“We closed on 15 June, meaning that we just lost two weeks of our normal period so there was not such a big impact on our calendar,” he says. “When you saw the opening ceremony on the river, you could see that Paris is the centre of the music stage in the world. Artists wanted to go to Paris before, but they want now to come here even more.”
Concert bookings at Accor Arena over the next few months include Ms Lauryn Hill & the Fugees, Cigarettes After Sex, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Childish Gambino, Kygo, SCH, Slipknot, Justice, Sabrina Carpenter, Cyndi Lauper, Usher, Twenty One Pilots, DJ Snake and Billie Eilish.
According to Dupeux, live music accounts for 75-80% of the arena’s programming, with a roughly even split between domestic and international artists. However, a major annual draw is a sporting event – the NBA Paris Games, with San Antonio Spurs set to take on the Indiana Pacers at Accor Arena on 23 & 25 January 2025.
Demand for tickets is expected to be even higher than normal due to the popularity of French basketball superstar Victor Wembanyama (aka “Wemby”), who plays for the Spurs.
“Our first ever NBA game was in 2020 and then in 2025 we will host two games with Wemby, and it will be amazing, because Wemby is French and is an icon of the NBA in the US,” smiles Dupeux.
“2025 will be one of our best years ever. We should break records in terms of the number of events hosted at the arena”
Next year, which also marks a decade of the venue’s ongoing naming rights deal with hospitality giant Accor, is on track to be its biggest yet, he adds.
“2025 will be one of our best years ever,” says Dupeux. “We should break records in terms of the number of events hosted at the arena. We recovered very fast after the pandemic and three years later, it’s even stronger than before. The live sector is very strong, so it will be a crazy year.”
Accor Arena has hosted icons such as Queen, Madonna, U2, Celine Dion, Metallica, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Paul McCartney since opening in 1984. Dupeux, who has led the venue for six years, considers U2’s 2018 concerts to be a personal highlight.
“We have a special relationship with U2, because they played the day before the attacks in Paris in 2015,” he explains. “They had to stop their two other shows because it was after the attack and they came back a few months later, so we already had a strong relationship with them.
“They are one of my favourite bands as well, so when I had the chance to get them in 2018 – and it was just six months after my arrival at the arena – it ticked a lot of boxes, emotionally speaking. But every show is very important and brings a different memory.”
Looking ahead, Dupeux speaks of plans to transform the venue and the surrounding area into a fully-fledged entertainment district, complete with facilities such as bars, restaurants and an outdoor cinema.
“We did that this year and last year, and we want to go further,” he adds. “We want to amplify this strategy: to create events, to create activities before, after and outside events to make our venue a real destination for everybody. We are thinking about creating some summer events in the park next to the arena and we want to create sports events outdoors to make people come to our destination every day.”
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AXS, CTS grow ticketing businesses in France
AEG-owned ticketing firm AXS has established its first office in France, in the capital city of Paris.
Lucile Genest, former head of ticketing at Accor Arena in Paris, has been appointed head of strategic operations for the office.
She will spearhead the company’s strategy, development, operations, account management and marketing throughout France.
Previous to AXS, Genest spent 25 years at the 20,300-capacity Accor Arena where she oversaw primary, secondary and VIP ticketing, revenue growth, the digital transformation of the arena and ticketing systems for the biggest international concerts and sports events.
When Accor’s owner, Paris Entertainment Company, acquired the Bataclan Theater and Adidas Arena, Genest added those two venues to her purview serving as head of ticketing for all three venues.
“Lucile is a veteran ticketing executive with an impeccable track record in live events”
“Lucile is a veteran ticketing executive with an impeccable track record in live events,” says Blaine Legere, president, International. “Her expertise and knowledge of the French live event market will be invaluable as we build our portfolio in the country.”
Genest adds: “My career in ticketing started while I was in college, working at the box office of Accor Arena. Over the years, ticketing has only grown more complex and I’ve had the privilege of being at the center of major transformation in my many venue ticketing roles. I am delighted to join AXS and lead their efforts in France to partner with the most iconic French events, concerts, teams and venues.”
News of AXS’s France office comes weeks after AXS announced its expansion into Germany via partnerships with two major arenas.
The firm’s presence in Europe also includes UK partners such as The O2, OVO Arena Wembley, Venues South Wales, BST Hyde Park and All Points East festivals. In Sweden, AXS is the exclusive ticketing provider for Stockholm Live! and Swedish Elite Football.
Elsewhere in the French ticketing market, CTS Eventim has been given the green light to acquire a further 17% of the share capital of France Billet.
CTS Eventim has been given the green light to acquire a further 17% of the share capital of France Billet
The European Commission says it has no antitrust or other objections to CTS exercising the call option to increase its stake in France Billet from 48% to 65%.
The remaining 35% is owned by Fnac Darty, France’s largest retailer of entertainment products, consumer electronics and household appliances.
CTS Eventim first took a stake in France Billet in November 2019, merging its own French ticketing activities into the partnership.
France Billet, along with subsidiaries Tick&Live and Eventim France, manages 36 million tickets in France through its ticketing technology and services activities.
The company was recently named the official supporter of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games ticketing services.
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French concert business in ‘best of health’
The French touring scene is in “the best of health” despite a summer overshadowed by the Paris Olympics, according to local music insiders.
Hosting the sporting competition may have resulted in fewer major concerts taking place in the country in 2024, but a busy autumn is in store for the indoor circuit, which will host acts such as Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Childish Gambino, Slipknot, Jonas Brothers, Justice and Melanie Martinez.
“The live entertainment market is in the best of health,” says Nicolas Dupeux, CEO of Paris Entertainment Company, which runs the Accor and adidas arenas in the French capital.
Accor Arena is one of France’s key venues, with a capacity between 15,000 and 20,000, while the company’s brand-new adidas arena has a capacity of 8,000-9,000. Speaking in IQ‘s 2024 Global Arena Guide, Dupeux notes that rising ticket prices do not appear to have impacted attendance.
“The evolution of the average ticket price is clear evidence: in our venues, in France, the post-Covid period is marked by a gradual increase in prices,” he says. “All styles and artists are affected, but international artists – who are increasingly performing in our venues – stand out significantly. For example, tickets for Madonna’s concert at Accor Arena in November 2023 reached exceptionally high price levels, up to €386.50. Nevertheless, we continue to fill the venues – a sign of strong demand.”
“We have had a record year in the number of concerts hosted while having the Olympics using the venue for six months”
Separately, the multifunctional Paris La Défense Arena, which served as another key venue for the Olympics, has welcomed more than 1.2m spectators over the past year. The venue has increased its maximum capacity from 43,000 to 45,000 and aims to further expand in the near future.
“We have had a record year in the number of concerts hosted while having the Olympics using the venue for six months, with major international acts such as 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift and French local legend Michel Sardou,” reports booking director Raphaëlle Plasse.
“Our goal is to host 100 events per year in the upcoming years. To achieve that, we are planning to invest in solutions to optimise load-in and load-out times, reducing costs for the promoters, and increasing the number of days available to book additional events.”
Meanwhile, Paris’ 7,000-cap Le Zénith celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2024. Upcoming gigs include Moby, Girl in Red, Nas, London Grammar, Deep Purple, Nas, Fontaines D.C. and Jacob Collier.
“The last two years have been very good ones for the performing arts, with a very strong lineup of French and international artists, particularly for those performing in large and very large venues, with generally good attendance figures, a clear breakthrough for rap artists, and a strong comeback for electronic music/techno nights,” says director Lily Fisher.
French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre will open and close the Paris 2024 Paralympics Closing Ceremony on 8 September
France’s biggest indoor arena outside of Paris, the 16,000-cap LDLC Arena in Lyon, opened last year to provide another boon for the market, and renowned promoter Salomon Hazot brought further positive news, praising the “absolutely magnificent” sales for Ed Sheeran’s 2025 French stadium dates in an interview with IQ.
Hazot is staging the singer-songwriter’s +–=÷× (Mathematics) Tour concerts at Marseille’s 70,000-cap Orange Vélodrome Stadium (6-7 June) and Lille’s 65,000-cap Decathlon Arena (20-21 June) next year via his partnership with AEG Presents France.
Elsewhere, it has been announced that French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre will open and close the Paris 2024 Paralympics Closing Ceremony at the Stade de France on 8 September.
Domestic singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer’s will also play three concerts at the 90,000-cap stadium on 27-28 September and 1 October. Farmer was originally due to perform at the venue last year only for the dates to be rescheduled due to the French riots.
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Celine & Gaga tipped for Olympics opening ceremony
Celine Dion and Lady Gaga are strongly rumoured to be performing a duet at tomorrow’s (26 July) Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris.
French journalist Thierry Moreau reports on X that the pair have rehearsed Édith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose for the occasion, with both said to be staying at same hotel near the Champs-Élysée.
Dion has not performed live since 2022, when she rescheduled and cancelled a number of concerts after being diagnosed with incurable neurological condition Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS). The Canadian was later forced to axe her entire 2023/24 European tour due to her ongoing health battle.
The 2024 Olympic opening ceremony will be the first held outside a stadium, taking place along a 6km stretch of the Seine River and at Trocadero, showcasing Parisian landmarks.
French-Malian singer-songwriter Aya Nakamura it expected to perform a Charles Aznavour classic, accompanied by the Republican Guard
Award-winning theatre director Thomas Jolly will serve as artistic director, but details of performers have remained a closely guarded secret. As well as Dion and Gaga, Time Out reports that French-Malian singer-songwriter Aya Nakamura will perform a Charles Aznavour classic, accompanied by the Republican Guard.
Domestic acts Sofiane Pamart, Juliette Armanet, Philippe Katerine, Cerrone, Marina Viotti, Gojira and Rim’K are also set to appear.
Singer-songwriter Slimane, who represented France at the last Eurovision Song Contest, will also reportedly give a free concert in Saint-Denis tomorrow, backed by a symphony orchestra, just hours before the opening ceremony.
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Air & Phoenix play concert on Paris airport roof
French electro artists Air, Phoenix and Etienne de Crécy starred in a unique concert held on the roof of Terminal 1 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
The ‘French Touch’ showcase, which attracted more than 2,000 fans, was organised by ADP Group (Aéroports de Paris) alongside Amazon Music and was livestreamed on Prime Video and the global Amazon Music channel on Twitch.
Held in the run-up to this month’s Paris Olympics, the 17 July show marked 50 years of the country’s main airport and its role “as a gateway to the world in France, and a participant in France’s cultural influence”. It also served as “a celebration of French culture and a tribute to the art and music that have shaped the global electro scene”.
Admission was free of charge and accessible by registration, with other acts on the night including Inès Mélia, Benjamin Diamond B2B Alan Braxe and Izzy Lindqwister.
London’s Heathrow Airport has also teamed with global music events company Sofar Sounds to curate its new Terminal 5 stage
The airport has previously staged gigs by Rone in 2015 in the boarding lounge of Terminal 2E, as well as Metronomy in the baggage reclaim area, in addition to performances by Nicolas Godin, Tale Of Us and Lang Lang.
Paris-CDG is not the first major European airport to present live music in 2024 – London’s Heathrow Airport has also teamed with global music events company Sofar Sounds to curate its new Terminal 5 stage throughout this summer.
Designed to showcase a diverse range of emerging British talent spanning pop, jazz, folk, R&B, soul and rock, the Heathrow Introducing Stage is due to wrap up its season today (24 July) after hosting the last of three events. Acts have included acoustic rock band China Bears, folk singer-songwriter The Halfway Kid and R&B artist Olivia Nelson.
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AI surveillance trialled at gigs ahead of Olympics
AI-assisted video surveillance was tested at concerts by French police ahead of their deployment at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
The authorities tested six AI-enabled cameras at Depeche Mode’s two-night stand at Accor Arena earlier this year in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held from 26 July to 11 August.
Biometric Update reports the system runs on software platform Cityvision, developed by Paris-based Wintics, with the tools trained to detect eight types of suspicious or potentially dangerous activity.
According to the Telegraph, weapons, fire, bodies on the ground and abandoned packages will send alerts to surveillance operators, as will crowd behaviours including mass movement, trespassing in restricted zones, overcrowding and traffic that goes against the flow, abandoned packages, weapons, a body on the ground and fire.
Once an incident has been flagged, operators will decide whether or not to alert authorities and request police action.
The French parliament passed a law in May last year authorising the use of AI for the security of sporting and recreational events following the chaotic pre-match crowd management scenes that marred the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stade de France. However, the law bans the use of algorithmic facial recognition.
“Algorithmic video surveillance is inherently dangerous biometric technology”
The measures have raised the ire of privacy group Quadrature du Net, which says: “Algorithmic video surveillance is inherently dangerous biometric technology. Accepting it opens the way to the worst surveillance tools.”
ASM Global announced a partnership with Evolv Technology, a leader in weapons detection security screening, in 2022. ASM’s AO Arena (cap. 21,000) in Manchester became the first arena in Europe to use AI-based threat detection screening system, Evolv Express, to screen guests as they arrive at the arena for events, without the need to stop or remove items from their pockets or policy-compliant bags.
Madison Square Garden Company previously caused controversy in 2022 when it emerged it was using facial recognition technology to prevent anyone who works for a firm that is suing it from entering its venues.
The ban covered venues including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and the Chicago Theatre.
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Paris opens new 8,000-capacity arena
Paris has opened its only purpose-built arena for this summer’s Olympic Games: Adidas Arena.
The 7,800-capacity venue in Porte de la Chapelle – which will eventually be used for concerts among other things – officially opened on Sunday (11 February) with a basketball match between Paris and Saint-Quentin.
Adidas Arena will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastic events during the Olympics, as well as para-badminton and para-powerlifting during the Paralympics.
During the Olympics, Adidas Arena will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastic events
Aside from the summer games, and as well as serving as the home of Paris Basketball, the arena will host other national and international sporting events, conferences and concerts.
The arena complex also features public facilities including an events hall and an 11.5-metre-high green terrace. The seats are made from recycled plastic and the arena will be powered by green energy.
German sportswear company Adidas acquired naming rights to the arena back in July 2022. The initial five-year contract with arena operating company SAE POPB is renewable for a further seven years.
The Paris Olympics will take place from 26 July to 11 August, with the Paralympics to follow from 28 August to 8 September.
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Teo details the Touring Exhibitions Pavilion 2024
Teo (Touring Exhibitions Organisation) has announced two special conference sessions dedicated to the latest trends and experiences in international touring exhibitions, for the Touring Exhibitions Pavilion 2024.
The Pavilion will take place in Paris as part of Museum Connections, an international trade fair focusing on the business and sustainable challenges of museums, cultural and touristic venues, that has been running for 25 years.
Taking place over 16–17 January at Porte de Versailles, Teo’s sessions will see international producers and specialists in art, science, design, history, natural history, world cultures, popular culture and technology exhibitions present their latest productions and insights.
Speakers include American Museum of Natural History, the Design Museum, the Musée de la civilisation and Québec
Visitors will have the opportunity to discover new experiences presented by speakers from the American Museum of Natural History, the Design Museum, the Musée de la Civilisation, Québec, National Museums Scotland, lililillilil, Science Museum Group, PANART Connections, Nomad Exhibitions, Cap Sciences, Contemporanea Progetti, MEDARTEC, la Sucrière, Grand Palais Immersif, Science Centre Singapore.
Other speakers represent the Natural History Museum, Culturespaces Digital, PHI Studio, Universcience – cité des sciences et de l’industrie & Palais de la découverte, ACMI, ASTER, Project Holocene, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Tempora, Lascaux international exhibition, Citéco – Cité de l’économie, Disgusting Food Museum, World Touring Exhibitions.
The conference sessions will also be made available online on the Teo platform after the event.
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