French pop music sung in English

French pop music finds its voice with English language lyrics

Teachers take credit for instilling linguistic confidence in a new generation of French music acts who sing in English

When the band Pony Pony Run Run went to music awards Les Victoires de la Musique in Paris this year, they won "best newcomer" as voted by the public. The other two newcomer awards went to rock vocalist Izia and folk-pop act Yodelice.

Separated by sound and style, the acts have just two things in common: French musicians – and the English language.

The Plastiscines have pioneered a playful attitude to the English language.

In the last three years there has been a rise in the number of French artists choosing to sing in English, despite quotas requiring at least 40% of music played on radio stations to be in French. It means English-language artists automatically compete with international acts for airplay.

Bernard Chereze, programme director at France Inter radio network, has seen domestic artists on Inter's English-language airplay rise from being a rare occurrence in 2007 to 20% today.

The internet, which is used by growing numbers of young people as a medium for listening to music and which is not restricted by quotas, is also cited as a reason why English-language acts have become more popular.

"Thanks to the internet, our generation has grown up listening to much more music than previous ones – especially English-language music," singer Jil Bensenior of folk-rock act Jil Is Lucky told Billboard magazine.

While singing in English may be a hindrance to getting airtime in France, it can be a help in breaking the American market, as rock band Phoenix have done with their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which has sold more than 400,000 copies.

The French education system is gaining credit for the increase in people choosing to sing in English. Emmanuele du Burutel, CEO of label Because, which has English-singing Charlotte Gainsbourg and the Plastiscines on their books, said: "Now French artists can really write and sing in English – and French A&R executives can hear it."

English language teachers believe the rise in English-language bands reflects a definite rise in confidence in using the language.

Jim Hollington, deputy director of the British Council in France, which has teachers and 1,000 British language assistants in schools across Paris and in the outskirts, said the Council had observed an increase in confidence in pupils, and interest in their classes.

He said that not only had the French government made a huge commitment to raising standards of English, with a foreign language being taught in all primary schools, he also believed that there had been a shift in attitudes over the last 15 years towards English.

He attributed this partially to the Eurostar train service between Paris and London. "There's major daily movement between the two countries; the UK is accessible yet different."

While there is no hard and fast evidence that demonstrates an improvement in the level of English, he said the number of people taking the Ielts exam, which is used to assess English skills for higher education studies, was increasing in popularity at 50% per year.

"People are stimulated by things that are relevant to their culture – they can understand lyrics. And as they get better in English, they want to sing in English," he said.

The increased confidence in bands choosing to sing in English breeds more confidence as it spills over into classrooms, making a virtuous musical circle.

Bethany Cagnol, chair of the French branch of the Tesol teachers' association, said she had heard students quoting songs for years in class. "They lift lyrics from songs, expressions from television and film – video games even."

She said there was a "coolness" to the English language – which musically has been considered the language of rock – and the French, she believed, were imbued with an instinctive love of language play.

"The ability to make dual language play is very rewarding," she said. "Students have more confidence and demonstrate they have a richness and flexibility in English. This playfulness, switching between languages, is very empowering."

The rise in English-language French music is particularly suited to a nation that places great importance on lyrics. France is a place where Serge Gainsbourg's words are freely quoted.

Cagnol said: "In France, lyrics are crucial – often more important than the music itself. So for the French, knowing the words is important and finding nuances."

She finds the repetition in songs makes them effective for teaching and learning English. "It's impressive to see the way students drop phrases into their conversations," she said. "And they feel they are using a code because they know the reference.

"Because we listen to songs again and again, and they have refrains that are often repeated two or three times within the song, the words get ingrained easily, so even lower-level students 'lift' expressions they've heard."

For the bands themselves, it seems unlikely they were thinking of helping their country's English fluency rates when they crafted their lyrics. Thomas Mars, vocalist for Phoenix, said international success was not a consideration when the band started writing lyrics in English.

"When we write songs we do it for us and not to gain international recognition. I don't believe you absolutely need to sing in English to gain that – but you need good music for sure," he said.

He didn't make a conscious choice to compose in English but enjoys the leap of expression between the two languages.

"Even if it is not my first language I feel there are more unexplored territories thinking in French and writing in English, than to write in French," he said.

Taken from The Guardian [U.K.] HERE.


French radio stations fall victim to anglophone artists

French radio stations are struggling to stem the tide of English-language pop songs on their airwaves, as stations say they can no longer fulfil quotas on French-language titles because less are being produced.

Music industry representatives convened at France's broadcast watchdog, the CSA, to discuss the quota system, which forces national radio to play 40 per cent of its songs in French, half from new artists.

The 1994 law was introduced in an attempt to stem an anglophone song invasion and foster home-grown talent.

As a result French record labels long preferred to take on francophone talent rather than compete with the likes of Coldplay.

Yael Naim is a Franco-Israeli artist most of whose songs are in English

But in recent years, a growing number of French singers have switched to English for their lyrics, seen as more suited to pop music and far more easily exportable.

The best female artist at this year's Victoires de la Musique – France's Mercury awards – was Yael Naim, a Franco-Israeli artist most of whose songs are in English.

As a result, the number of francophone albums released in France dropped from 718 to 158 between 2003 and last year.

Leading the charge for changes to the quota system is Jérôme Fouqueray, head of the radio stations Fun and RTL2.

"One cannot continue to ignore the new (music) scene which is not French-speaking, namely (groups) like Justice and Yael Naim etc," he said.

While English-speaking French singers had never had so much success abroad, they were not being given a proper hearing back home, he claimed.

"The (quota) set-up must evolve," he told Le Parisien newspaper.

Maryam Salehi of the NRJ radio group said: "How can you ask radio broadcasters to respect quotas if producers dry up the source (of French songs)?"

Defenders of French-speaking songs denied there was a dearth of new material.

"Granted, there are fewer French productions than ten years ago due to the record (industry) crisis. But last year we proposed 720 French-speaking titles to the radio, that's a 28 per cent rise on 2009," said David El Sayegh, head of Snep, the body which protects the interests of the French record industry.

"However, music FM stations only use 15 singles to meet 90 per cent of their quota. They're terrified of new material."

CSA official Francine Mariani-Ducray said it was out of the question to include titles by French nationals sung in a foreign language in the quotas, as this was contrary to European legislation.

As the row rumbles on, the rise of French artists singing in English caused les Francofolies, a summer rock festival created to promote French-speaking talent, to create a new category. Not Ze Francos is reserved for English-speakers.

Taken from The Telegraph [U.K.] HERE.