Looking back on the outstanding success of French-produced music on an international level through the SNEP’s seasonal episodes called “Export Success Stories”
Newly introduced by the SNEP, Export Success Stories pay tribute to the influence of artists who are flying the flag for French musical production on the international stage, as well as the work of the teams behind them.
Driven by the global rise in streaming, an increasing number of French-produced artists – well-established and emerging talent alike – are currently experiencing remarkable success worldwide
These artists are the living symbols of the diversity of musical genres and generations; they perform at the largest festivals in the world, from Coachella to Reeperbahn, and their songs top streaming platforms in Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy and the USA, as well as in Asia and South America.
Behind the curtains of this success the record labels toil, arranging guest appearances with local stars, organizing sync deals with the most popular series on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, as well as with global advertising campaigns and video games, all of which greatly contributes to the global reach of French-produced music.
ANGÈLE – Romance / Universal Music France
With the release of her second album “Nonante Cinq” at the end of 2021, ANGÈLE continues to attract international audiences in 2023 with her first North American tour. She performs at the American festival Coachella, where her set is acclaimed by the local press (Rolling Stone, LA Times, NY Times, Consequence…), New York, where she plays 3 sold out nights in a row at Terminal 5, Los Angeles, with a full concert at the legendary Novo, and 2 shows at Montreal’s Bell Centre. In addition to these sold-out dates, the artist created excitement in the spring with her appearance at the MET Gala. She was also invited to the Billboard Women in Music Awards in March, and a mural of her was created in the popular New York district of Soho at the time of her visit to the city. After North America, Angèle continues her international momentum with dates in London (Wembley Arena) and Amsterdam (AFAS) in May 2023. The album “Nonante-Cinq” exceeded the platinum export threshold this year, with over 100,000 copies sold abroad, and her debut album “Brol” goes 3x platinum, topping the 350,000 sales equivalent.
Aya NAKAMURA – Rec.118 / Warner Music France
After being named “Female Artist of the Year” at the Victoires de la Musique awards last February, Aya Nakamura dominated the second edition of the Flammes 2024 awards with six nominations and three trophies: “Female Artist”, “New Pop Album” and, in recognition of her career outside France, “Flamme du rayonnement international”.
Another illustration of this success is the 15 new export certifications she has obtained for 2023, ranging from timeless hits (Djadja, Copines, Pookie) from her album NAKAMURA (2018), which now exceeds one million copies exported (Double Diamond), to her latest opus ‘DNK’, which easily achieves GOLD certification in its first year of release, boosted by the singles ‘Baby’ (Platinum) and ‘T’as Peur’ (Platinum) in collaboration with Puerto Rican star Myke Towers. Following her 3 performances in a sold-out Accor Arena last spring, she performed internationally for the first time, with a first African tour of Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, the West Indies and London’s OVO Wembley Arena. Her entire repertoire is acclaimed on social networks the world over. In Spain, for example, she scored a simultaneous double hit with one of her latest songs, ‘T’as Peur’ (2023) certified Platinum, and one of her first songs, ‘Le Passé’ (2018) certified Export Gold.
JAIN – Columbia / Sony Music France
The global hit of summer 2023 is French, and it was released in 2015. While ‘The Fool’, a title from the third eponymous studio album by the French artist JAIN, resonates on all radios, a new generation, via social networks, seizes “Makeba” (a title from her first album Zanaka (2015) released by Spookland Records / Sony Music France), propelling this title once again to the forefront, more than 8 years after its release. The artist and label teams managed to transform this viral success into a global phenomenon. The title now has 429 million streams worldwide, including 200 million since May 2023 and nearly 60 billion views on TikTok. It remained at #1 on the Global Shazam Chart for 6 weeks with immense radio and club success across the world, reaching #1 in the US (dance chart), #1 in Germany (club chart), 2nd place in Mexico, 7th place in Italy or 10th place in Mexico). “Makeba” is now certified gold single in Poland and South Africa, platinum single in Italy, Canada, Switzerland and Ireland, diamond single in France, among others. This title is a tribute to South African singer and civil rights activist Miriam Makeba. It combines a relentless rhythm and a powerful gimmick, “oheee” which has made it a timeless anthem.
NINHO – Jefe Production / Rec.118 / Warner Music France
NINHO collects 13 new export certifications this year, from its classics ‘La Vie Qu’on Mène’ and ‘Maman ne le sait pas’ (Diamant export) to his latest hit ‘Eurostar’.
NINHO collaborates for the first time with leading international artists on his ‘NI’ album. From the US (Lil Baby ‘Blue Story’), Great Britain (Central Cee ‘Eurostar’) to Nigeria (Ayra Starr, Omah Lay). He is also featured on the official soundtrack of the EA FC 24 video game, the world’s most popular soccer franchise, EUROSTAR feat. Central Cee is the first export-certified single from the project.
SOOLKING – Capitol / Universal Music France
The multifaceted artist continues his international rise! His rich musical influences and numerous collaborations with artists from around the world in recent years have allowed him to build a loyal audience in many countries. Among others, he has collaborated with Mero (Germany), Boro Boro (Italy), Reynmen (Turkey), Diplo (USA), Dhurata Dora (Albania), Ghali (Italy), Khaled (Algeria)… He unveiled his single “Suavemente” at the beginning of 2022: an unstoppable hit thanks to which he continues to mesmerize his international audience. The title now has more than 100 million streams internationally. In Italy, the song was readapted with local rapper Boro Boro and allowed the single to climb into the top 40 throughout the summer. The success story then continues with the release of his 3rd album “Sans Visa” (June 2022), now equivalent to Platinum with more than 100,000 albums sold abroad. He continues to develop his international career via live performances as well. 2022 marked the start of a sold-out world tour in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Italy…As for his latest single “Casanova” feat. Gazo, released at the beginning of July 2023, has already accumulated more than 100 million streams worldwide. The song quickly went viral on TikTok thanks to its melody and unstoppable gimmicks. At the same time, radio broadcasts continue to grow.
Ibrahim MAALOUF (Label Mister Ibé), an undisputed figure on the contemporary French music scene, made his mark on the world stage by becoming the first Franco-Lebanese instrumentalist to be nominated for the 65th Grammy Awards in 2022 for his album « Queen of Sheba », in collaboration with Angélique Kidjo. During that same year, Ibrahim Maalouf unveiled his 17th album entitled « Capacity to Love », earning him a new nomination at the 66th Grammy Awards for the song « Todo colores », in collaboration with Cimafunk, Tank & The Bangas, in the Best Global Music Performance category.
Expanding his reach beyond France, Ibrahim Maalouf has since consolidated his position as an outstanding musician, producer, arranger and performer. His shows consistently sell out in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe as well as in Turkey and the Middle East. In 2022/2023 he performed in total in front of almost 450,000 fans, and had over 100 million tracks streamed.
Ibrahim Maalouf has established prestigious collaborations with renowned artists such as Sting, De la Soul, Sharon Stone, A$AP Rocky, J Balvin, Gregory Porter, Jon Batiste and Marcus Miller, thanks to the wealth of experience of Quincy Jones. Critical praise for his last two albums from the New York Times, The New Yorker, NPR and WNYC attest to global recognition of Maalouf’s talent. His artistic development in the United States and Canada over the past two years has met with huge success, with sold-out concerts in the fall of 2022. Maalouf’s 2024 North American tour promises to be a logical continuation of the trumpeter’s upward trajectory, further consolidating his pole position on the international musical scene.
Ibrahim Maalouf’s exciting new project, “Trumpets of Michel Ange”, is more than just an album. The trumpet virtuoso’s ambitious initiative also aims to democratize the 1/4-tone trumpet invented by his father. In collaboration with Adrien Jaminet, renowned luthier at Atelier des Cuivres, and Maison Antoine Courtois, these instruments are now available to musicians the world over. On this album, Ibrahim Maalouf joins forces with international artists such as Trombone Shorty, Endea Owens, Golshifteh Farahani, as well as Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté. Together, they create music that transcends borders and brings together diverse influences. T.O.M.A. Trumpet accompanies Ibrahim Maalouf and his trumpeters on their world tour, including an Asian tour scheduled for late November and early December. The album’s first singles, “Fly With Me” and “Love Anthem” – the latter accompanied by a video shot in Uganda – have been a huge success since their release, reaching the top 10 of the iTunes jazz charts in Sweden, the UK and France, with #1 spots in Belgium, Switzerland, Rwanda, Austria, the Netherlands, Turkey and Portugal. This success testifies to the global impact of Ibrahim Maalouf’s music and his innovative project, consolidating his position as a major figure on the international music scene.
VIDEOCLUB – Petit Lion Productions/Columbia /Sony Music France
“Amour Plastique”, the hit song of the Nantes group Videoclub (Adèle Castillon and Matthieu Reynaud), outlived the group and even experienced new growth on an international scale, thanks in large part to the release of Ridley Scott’s film « Napoleon ».
While this association may at first glance seem surprising, it originated in a series of memes featuring the phrase « There’s nothing we can do », uttered by a despairing and disillusioned Napoleon in Scott’s eponymous film released in theaters in November. This series of memes, accompanied by a slowed-down version of “Amour Plastique” quickly spread on social networks, particularly in Mexico and the United States, where the original track had been well-received three years previously.
Thanks to this successful organic growth, and the concerted efforts of recording artist and record label teams, what had initially been a niche viral hit managed to become a global phenomenon, reaching #5 on the Shazam Global Chart, with over 2.2 million creations and 6.2 billion views on TikTok, not to mention nearly 271 million streams worldwide.
This success story, which occurred while the two artists themselves were busy launching their respective solo careers, illustrates the importance of music catalogues on the music scene, particularly among younger audiences (41% of the track’s current audience is under 22). It also clearly demonstrates the potential for a music catalogue to positively impact on new releases, and highlights its importance as a potential springboard for audience growth, both demographically and geographically. The presence of a music catalogue can also have a knock-on effect on the rest of an artist’s repertoire.
ELGRANDETOTO – BNJ City Block / RCA /Sony Music France
Already acclaimed as THE Moroccan musical phenomenon, and the most listened-to voice from the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) in the world, ElGrandeToto is currently establishing rap from the Arab-speaking world as an essential genre of the international scene.
With the release last November of his new album « 27 », ElGrandeToto boldly reaffirmed the status he garnered with the release of his first album « Chameleon » in 2021. This new musical project, the first of its kind for the Casablancan artist, propelled him to the forefront of both the Moroccan and international rap scenes. In 2022, he became the first Moroccan rapper to obtain a Gold record certification in France for his remix of Ckay’s hit « Love Nwantiti », a track which had more than 153 million streams on Spotify.
Supported by a global partnership with Spotify, the album “27” marked a turning point in the artist’s career outside Morocco. ElGrandeToto first launched the campaign for his new album with “Weld Laadoul”, a track he performed for the unavoidable COLORS×STUDIO. With prestigious international collaborations from the likes of Oxlade (Nigeria), Beny Jr (Spain), Morad (Spain), Unknown T (UK), Rondodasosa (Italy) and Hamza (Belgium), « 27 » achieved third best global start on Spotify in its first week of release, and 8th best start in the UK. The album’s 17 tracks occupied the first 17 places in the MENA Top 20; it broke into the Top 100 in Belgium, the Top 200 in Spain, and made it into the Apple Music charts in more than 25 countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Turkey – a first for an Arabic rap album.
The artist also benefited from exceptional visibility thanks to a series of displays around the world, notably in Times Square (New York), at the Eaton Center (Toronto) and in the FC Barcelona stadium.
ElGrandeToto went on to launch his « Twenty Seven Tour » world tour across Europe, the United States and Canada, further consolidating his place among rap’s global elite.
KUNGS – Island Def Jam / Universal Music France
With his new single “All Night Long,” released on 19 January in collaboration with French legend David Guetta and the British artist Izzy Bizu, the artist once again confirmed his status as global ambassador for the “French Touch.”
The emblematic meeting of these two major players of the French electro scene delighted fans around the world!
The release was promoted by Universal’s international teams, allowing the track to quickly shine around the world, thanks to remarkable editorial support on all platforms and immediate radio airplay, catapulting the track onto international record charts (United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Brazil, China…). On the evening of the track’s release Kungs occupied a London villa with his partner Lab54 for a livestream event, in the company of fans. Images from the evening quickly went viral on social networks.
Kungs, already responsible for a string of major global hits (This Girl, Never Going Home, Clap Your Hands…), continues to conquer ‘The Seven Seas’ with a series of distinguished collaborations, ranging from world-renowned artists to cutting-edge DJs/producers, including Taylor Swift, Purple Disco Machine, Carlita and Shadow Child, to name but a few.
The end of 2023 was also marked by the release of “The Complete Collection”, a physical and digital compilation of Kungs’ signature songs; it also marked two new major symbolic milestones in the DJ’s career: more than one billion streams for his first single This Girl (2016) and a landmark of more than 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
OFENBACH – Warner Music France
With over 18 million monthly listeners on Spotify, OFENBACH have established themselves over the last few years as the new must-have French electronic music group in the world. After 9 international tours (Europe, USA, Asia), several European hits (from ‘Be Mine’ to ‘Wasted Love’ certified 8x Diamant for export) and over 4 billion streams to their credit, This year, Ofenbach’s debut album “I (ONE)” is the most streamed export album of all time, topping the billion-stream mark in just one year, and has been certified Diamond export for over 500,000 albums sold, boosted by the latest singles “Body Talk”, “Love Me Now” and “4U”. The year 2024 is about to be just as promising. The band is currently writing a new success-story with their single “Overdrive” (already platinum in export at the end of 2023), which reached 2nd place in the Airplay Europe chart (their 5th Airplay Europe Top10). Present in the streaming charts of 20 countries, the band has already accumulated over 200M streams abroad. The rest of the year is looking busy, with a massive tour of European festivals, and new music of course.
FALLY IPUPA – Elektra Music France / Warner Music France
Named one of the 50 most influential African personalities, Fally Ipupa is an emblem of Congolese music and the French-speaking world on the international scene.
After 6 multi-certified albums, his latest project “FORMULE 7” and its hits “Bloqué” and “Mayday” have already accumulated over 100 million streams internationally, and are already certified GOLD for export. ‘Amore’ and ‘Likolo’ (feat. Ninho) are two new GOLD-certified export singles from his Tokooos II album. Fally Ipupa is notably the most streamed artist of all time on the African streaming platform Boomplay.
With past collaborations including Wizkid, Diamond Platnumz, Youssou N’Dour and many others, Fally Ipupa is undeniably an international superstar, selling out the biggest stadiums or Arenas. His 2023 tour included Kinshasa (120,000 people), Douala, Brussels, London and Paris – making him the very first French-speaking African artist to fill the prestigious Paris La Défense Arena to over 40,000 fans.
SOFIANE PAMART – 88 Touches / Pias
Since the release of his first track in 2019 at the age of 31, Sofiane has become one of the ten most streamed pianists in the world. While waiting for his fourth album which will be written and composed in the United States in 2024, his first album « Planet » reached the Golden Record milestone for export in 2023, and it is now his second opus “Letter” which aims for gold certification in 2024.
After a sold-out European tour at the end of 2023 in Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland) Sofiane Pamart announced a series of 20 concerts across the Atlantic, which will notably include New York and Los Angeles, “THE NOCHE TOUR 2024 « .
The last international highlight of the past year for Sofiane was a collaboration with Australian star Sia for a new version of her hit “Gimme Love.”
MAKE THE GIRL DANCE – Roy Music
For years the duo has roamed clubs across the planet with one objective in mind: to send dance floors into a frenzy!
Since their first video “Baby Baby Baby,” which met with worldwide success » (3M views in the first 3 days, over 40M views), Make the Girl Dance have navigated between girly electro hits (« Kill Me ») and ‘ear bleeding’ dirty “turbines” (« Wall Of Death »). After initially struggling to choose between their various electro, rock, folk or hip-hop influences, they eventually decided not to choose, but rather create an eclectic mix using all genres.
The success of their titles is undeniable: tens of millions of views of their clips, numerous synchronizations on advertisements (Microsoft, Magnum Ice Cream, L’Oréal, Guitar Hero, Victoria’s Secret, Jack Daniel), films (« Lucy » by Luc Besson), US series (Castle, Gossip Girl…) have made their music known throughout the world.
After three successful world tours (Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Rome, Geneva, New York, Miami, Austin, Montreal, Moscow, Istanbul, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore…), this duo, comprised of Pierre Mathieu and Greg Kozo, is currently in the process of composing its fourth album.
Bon Entendeur – Columbia / Sony Music France
Bon Entendeur takes us on a perpetually sunny journey, where generations mingle on the dancefloor, revealing a light, vintage flavor of the French language. This mix has seduced the world: the duo has over 500 million streams worldwide.
Making both original songs and remixes, Bon Entendeur conquered the world with their first album, Aller-Retour (certified Gold by Export 2022), featuring hits such as Le Temps est bon, La rua Madureira and L’amour l’amour l’amour. With their second album, Minuit, Bon Entendeur brought in new sounds, adding an international touch with tracks in English. Bon Entendeur have just released their third album, Rivages, which continues in the same vein: vintage, disco and electronic music, this time with a tribute to their Mediterranean origins.
The album is perfectly suited to feature on all European summer soundtracks: the track Rome is in rotation in Turkey and Greece (it is even the most played track on Pepper Radio, Greece’s leading dance radio station). As for the song Fio Maravilha, it is being played on radio in Belgium and Switzerland.
The duo have been making people dance in every city they’ve played in. First in Europe, Berlin, Barcelona, Istanbul, Athens, Madrid, Groningen, Oslo, London (Koko sold out), Amsterdam (Paradiso sold out), Paris (2 Olympia sold out), then in North America, Montreal, San Francisco, New York, Denver and Los Angeles.
Ghost Killer Track – Hall Access / Sony Music France
From a beat-maker and hit-maker for other artists, Ghost Killer Track has become an artist with international success: Tonight, a track on which he invited D-Block Europe & OBOY, is a big hit in the UK, and is now certified Diamond for export.
Ghost Killer Track first established himself as one of French rap’s leading shadow men, before tackling the UK drill and rap scene. Today, he is releasing his first album, Time Will Tell, featuring guest appearances from the crème de la crème of UK rappers: AJ Tracey, Blanco, A1 x J1, wewantwraiths and others. The album explores a variety of styles and demonstrates Ghost Killer Track’s ability to adapt to all the artists.
His song For The Mandem is already very liked in the UK, and beyond the UK it is beginning to be identified in France, Germany, Australia, Switzerland and the Maghreb. In just a few years, Ghost Killer Track has become a powerful force on both sides of the Channel, creating a link between the French and British hip-hop scenes.
Folamour at Coachella – Columbia / Sony Music France
Folamour played Coachella for the first time in his career in April 2024, alongside 3 other French bands: l’Impératrice, Gesaffelstein and Justice.
Joe Dassin and Griselda – Legacy / Sony Music France
Joe Dassin continues to captivate audiences around the world. After his song Dans les yeux d’Emilie became the anthem of the Rugby World Cup, another of his songs is back in the spo tlight. His song Salut, synchronized with the Netflix series Griselda, has garnered almost 20 million streams worldwide, making it to Shazam’s Top 200 Global list.
From “America” to “Champs Elysées”, Joe Dassin is an international artist, who has crossed the Atlantic to achieve an American-style star career in France. Hits galore, still timeless 50 years after their creation, thanks in no small part to the daily work of Sony Music’s catalog teams. Today, 1 in 2 streams from Joe Dassin’s repertoire is produced internationally, with the USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK leading the way. At a time when Paris is hosting the Olympic Games, “Champs Elysées”, the quintessential Parisian song, reaches 25 million streams a year worldwide, with over half of listeners under 34! The song’s success has also spread to advertising (synchro in the latest AirBnb campaign), soccer (the “N’Golo Kante” version sung by fans and players of the French national team) and tennis, with this interview with Andrew Murray featuring the tennis player singing the chorus at the microphone of L’Equipe.
Laura Cox – Verycords
Laura Cox, or in other words, the success story of the emergence of female blues rock Singer, guitarist, composer and performer, Laura Cox launched her career in 2008 on YouTube as a pioneer in guitar tutorial videos, covering the songs that have shaped her musical career. She soon built up a substantial following and grew increasingly confident in her guitar playing. At the same time, she formed her own group, the “Laura Cox Band”, released a debut album, toured France and abroad and got signed to the Verycords label.
Three albums later, Laura Cox is the rising star of women’s rock, endorsed by Gibson France, that invites her to the prestigious NAMM Show in the USA, between two European tours. In January 2023, Laura was honored to be chosen by Spotify as an ambassador for its international EQUAL program, which aims to promote gender equity in the music industry, and featured her on a video billboard in Time Square.
Her latest album (Head Above Water-2023) received rave reviews in the European media, with TV in Italy, and a week of promotion in Germany. Laura now has over 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, with just over 114 million views of her videos! Laura is the living proof of the possibility of being young, female and defending the blues in France and abroad!
Indila – Island Def Jam / Universal Music France
10 years ago, the enchanting and enigmatic French singer Indila released her first and only album, “Mini world”. Selling over 1.6 million copies worldwide, this now iconic album went beyond the borders of the French language to conquer an international audience. Today, she is one of the most listened-to French artists on the platforms. Her single “Dernière danse” made history by becoming the very first French-language track to exceed one billion views on YouTube in May 2023.
This track, as well as “Love Story”, “Ainsi bas la vida” and “Tourner dans le vide”, have also enjoyed enormous visibility on social networks in recent years, and have become genuine international hits, notably in India, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico and many other territories. Following on from this success, Indila accepted for the first time an official collaboration on a track from her album, and collaborated with the young German DJ and producer BENNETT on “Dernière danse – Techno Mix”. To reinforce this development beyond our borders, Universal is implementing several marketing, promo and digital actions to accompany this release: short content creation campaigns, influencer campaigns in partnership with several European markets, radio and club servicing in several territories, third-party playlisting, digital marketing campaigns on social networks, and other actions that contribute to continuing to highlight Indila’s catalog on an international scale. This new version of “Dernière danse” has been conquering the European charts since its release a few weeks ago: over 30M WW streams, Spotify Top 200 in 6 territories (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France) and Viral Charts in over 20 markets, Shazam Top 200 in 15 countries… A surprising and addictive techno version, inspired by stutter house and club culture, ready to conquer the planet.
Slimane – Capitol / Universal Music France
Since winning The Voice France in 2016, Slimane’s rise has been meteoric: 2 million albums sold, 1 million concert-goers, nearly 2 billion streams worldwide, 5 NRJ Music Awards, and a Victoire de la Musique.
The year 2024 marks a new step in Slimane’s career, and his greatest exposure on the international stage. On May 11, he will proudly represent France with his single “Mon Amour” at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden. As part of this Eurovision campaign, Slimane’s vocal skills have been showcased in high-profile performances of his single at various European events, including Eurovision Pre-Parties in Barcelona, London and Amsterdam. Close coordination between the Universal and Indifférence Prod teams in the various territories, and with the independent promotion agencies involved in the campaign, also led to some memorable moments, such as the DORA live show in Croatia (the selection program for the Croatian Eurovision representative), The Voice in Belgium, La Volta Buona on RAI in Italy…
Slimane is now one of the Top 10 favorite Eurovision candidates, and “Mon Amour” has exceeded 7M export streams. To coincide with Eurovision, Universal will be releasing an exclusive 3CD boxed set in several European territories on May 10, featuring Slimane’s greatest hits.
Barbara PRAVI – Virgin Music / Universal Music France
In January 2024, French singer Barbara Pravi’s worldwide hit »Voilà » experienced an international resurgence, thanks to social network covers and strong fan involvement. Universal Music teams in Europe are supporting this resurgence with a range of marketing operations, helping to raise the profile of the artist’s new single, “Bravo”, released at the beginning of the year. At the same time, Barbara Pravi announces a Dutch tour for January 2025, which fills up fast.
_________________________________________________________________________
Aya NAKAMURA – Rec.118 / Warner Music France
After being named “Female Artist of the Year” at the Victoires de la Musique awards last February, Aya Nakamura dominated the second edition of the Flammes 2024 awards with six nominations and three trophies: “Female Artist”, “New Pop Album” and, in recognition of her career outside France, “Flamme du rayonnement international”.
Another illustration of this success is the 15 new export certifications she has obtained for 2023, ranging from timeless hits (Djadja, Copines, Pookie) from her album NAKAMURA (2018), which now exceeds one million copies exported (Double Diamond), to her latest opus ‘DNK’, which easily achieves GOLD certification in its first year of release, boosted by the singles ‘Baby’ (Platinum) and ‘T’as Peur’ (Platinum) in collaboration with Puerto Rican star Myke Towers. Following her 3 performances in a sold-out Accor Arena last spring, she performed internationally for the first time, with a first African tour of Congo, Ivory Coast, Mali, the West Indies and London’s OVO Wembley Arena. Her entire repertoire is acclaimed on social networks the world over. In Spain, for example, she scored a simultaneous double hit with one of her latest songs, ‘T’as Peur’ (2023) certified Platinum, and one of her first songs, ‘Le Passé’ (2018) certified Export Gold.
Lewis OFMAN – Virgin Music / Universal Music France
Following the release of his second album »Cristal Medium Blue » in February 2024, Lewis Ofman embarked on a European tour this spring, filling venues in the UK, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium. These new concerts introduce his new live set-up, now with four musicians and a female vocalist. Lewis Ofman is about to embark on a new North American tour, where he already played last year with a notable appearance at the Coachella festival. This time, he will be performing in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto. The artist will also return to Mexico for two dates, in Mexico City and at the Akamba festival.
BENIGHTED – Season of Mist
A veteran of the Death Metal scene, Benighted have established themselves far beyond our borders. After tours of North America, a 5-country Asian tour, an annual European tour, all the most prestigious metal festivals in Europe… Benighted have succeeded in building an international fanbase, thanks to their hard work on the road. As a result, 80% of their 3 million annual streams are generated abroad… In fact, the 4 countries generating the highest number of streams for Benighted are the USA, Mexico, Germany and France. Their new album should take them even further afield, and add many new stamps to their passports!
MOBLACK x SALIF KEITA – Decca / Universal Music France
On June 7, DJ and producer Moblack released a track inspired by one of Salif Keita and Cesaria Evora’s greatest songs, “Yamore”. Since the beginning of January, the track has been the talk of clubs and social networking sites, where excerpts of the track played live have been posted and gone viral. Highly anticipated for months, the track’s official release was a success, reaching a million listens less than two weeks after its release and 3 million listens to date, with Mexico as the first territory, followed by France, the United States, Germany and Turkey. Today, the track is in the Shazam top 100 worldwide and has climbed up the viral charts in several countries (France, Greece, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Egypt, Panama…) and has been used almost 100,000 times on social media. Alongside Universal Music’s support in amplifying the track’s virality via digital and influencer campaigns, we have also been working assiduously on radio and in clubs in several countries. The track was played on BBC Radio 1 by the famous host and DJ Pete Tong, and is now one of the top 10 most downloaded tracks on Beatport, the benchmark platform for DJs.
KEL-P – Virgin Music / Universal Music France
After a first project that was noticed by platforms and media and sowed the first seeds internationally, Nigerian artist and producer Kel-P unveiled his 2nd EP “Bully Season Vol.2: Pretty girls love afrobeats” on June 28. With support from Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and African platforms on its release, the second part of this project heralds a promising development. For this new international campaign, the focus is on North America, Nigeria and the UK. A radio, club and press promotion campaign organized by Universal’s teams in these territories has generated a great deal of interest: Billboard Canada, Mixtape Madness, 1883 Magazine, BBC 1Xtra, KEXP, #5 African Chart DJ City… It was in Nigeria where development was most rapid, notably via its collaboration with rapper Blaqbonez, which immediately won over radio stations such as Beat FM, Cool FM, Soundcity Africa, as well as media such as Clout Africa, Culture Costodian, Pulse NG. This promotion was accompanied by a precise digital project involving Nigerian tastemakers, including Kel-P’s presence at Obi’s House, a popular Afrobeats party in Lagos. The performance of the track “In My Feelings” ft. Kalash inspired Universal’s DAs to adapt it for the USA, featuring Canadian artist Chikoruss. This new version will help develop a new audience ! In addition to the artistic side, a day of content shooting is organized with the two artists, enabling them to develop a content strategy for social networks. A performance of the piano version of the track is also recorded at this time at the Oculus Center.
POMME – Virgin Music / Universal Music France
After conquering French-speaking audiences, Pomme is now conquering the United States and South America. In May and June, she played dates in Boston, Washington, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bogota, Mexico City and Guadalajara. She continues her Canadian rise with concerts in Toronto and a stand-out performance on the main stage of the Francos de Montréal, where she screened her film “Saisons”, from her eponymous album. This attracted a crowd estimated at 30,000. Taking advantage of her presence in the U.S., Universal Music teams set up promotional operations and a dedicated fan event in New York. To reinforce Pomme’s proximity to his audience, a screening of “Saisons” was organized for him in a New York cinema, in the company of local media. The artist also conducted interviews for Flood Magazine, Atwood Magazine, Flaunt, Ladygunn…
Ascendant Vierge – Sony Music France
Ascendant Vierge broke musical codes and boundaries with first singles, “Influenceur” (2019), “Faire et refaire” (2019) and “Petit soldat” (2021). These tracks immediately created a viral frenzy, spreading beyond our borders. Two years later, in 2023, Ascendant Vierge released their debut album “Une nouvelle Chance” (Epic Records France), continuing their blend of lyrical pop on the one hand, and techno club music on the other. 6 million cumulative streams later, including over 1 million for “A l’infini”, the duo confirmed their singularity and saw their live audience grow throughout Europe. The best illustration of this success outside France was the organization of their release party at Berlin’s Berghain, putting Ascendant Vierge on the short list of bands to perform a concert (not a set) at this legendary Berlin venue. The tour that followed the album took them to a wide variety of venues and festivals (Primavera, Solidays, Pukkelpop, Boiler Room, Arte Live…) all over Europe (Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, England, Denmark, Austria). Ascendant Vierge will release their 2nd EP “Le plus grand spectacle de la terre” in September (featuring Canadian DJ TDJ). And this time their tour will take them to the US. Ascendant Vierge: the duo that imposes the French language in a singular way wherever they go.
Signatune – Sony Music France
French label Signatune’s ambition is to rock clubs the world over. The label has more than a billion streams to its name and has almost doubled its number of export certifications in a year, from 4 to 7 certifications! In a joint venture with RCA/ Sony Music France, Signatune is developing an electro aesthetic with tracks ranging from EDM to techno, house, hardstyle and trance, among others. The label brings together DJs hailed among the top 100 DJs on the planet by DJ Mag, such as Don Diablo, Afrojack, R3hab, Timmy Trumpet, Oliver Heldens, Italian duos Marnik and VINAI and French producer Naeleck. Today, 5 years after its launch, Signatune has established itself as one of the top 10 producers generating the most streams on new releases for export in 2023. A success both in France and abroad, since the main markets for its hits are Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Austria.
Warner Music France – AIR, Phoenix et Etienne de Crécy en concert sur le toit de l’aéroport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle le mercredi 17 juillet 2024.
The French touch is in the house! One week ahead of the Olympic Games, an exceptional free concert features a dream line-up including AIR, Phoenix, Etienne de Crécy, Benjamin Diamond and Alan Braxe. Izzy Lindqwister and Inès Mélia complete the line-up. Produced by the Blogothèque and initiated by ADP and tour operator Super! this exceptional Live event will also be broadcast live on Prime and Amazon Music’s Twitch channel. Fasten your seatbelts.
Angélique Kidjo – Warner Music France
In the midst of a world tour that includes a stop at Carnegie Hall in November, the five-time Grammy Award-winning Franco-Beninese singer makes her comeback with ‘Sunlight to My Soul’ (Parlophone/Warner). The song, written by Oscar-winning American songwriter Diane Warren and produced by Nigerian composer Shizzi (Ed Sheeran & Fireboy), features the South African voices of the Soweto Gospel Choir, and offers an unprecedented multicultural journey, just like Angélique Kidjo’s extraordinary career. Sunshine for your soul!
Françoise Hardy – A tribute beyond our borders
She was driven by a determination and a rare appetite for music that made her an unpremeditated icon…whose memory, talent and creations have been honored by audiences far beyond France. The New York Times called her “a heroine for young people”, Rolling Stone called her “one of the greatest singers of all time”, and Pitchfork summed up her six-decade career as “a singer-songwriter who emancipated herself from her 60s star status to become a cult worldwide”. Tributes poured in from all over the world when Françoise Hardy passed away, as her timeless songs ‘Comment te dire Adieu’, ‘Tous les garçons et les filles’ and ‘Le temps de l’amour’ were celebrated beyond all borders.
FOLAMOUR – FHUO 
MYLA – Parlophone / Warner Music France
GODWIN – Sony Music France
KAVINSKY x ANGÈLE x PHOENIX – Loyauté / Angèle VL Records / Deadcruiser / Record Makers / Universal Music France (Virgin Music)
ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO – Parlophone / Warner Music France
TALISCO – Roy Music
ZAHO DE SAGAZAN – Disparate / Universal Music France (Virgin Music)
TIAKOLA – Warner Music France
GIMS – Sony Music France
