Posted Apr 15, 2023, 9:45 AMUpdated on Apr 15, 2023, 4:39 PM
If M6 is now seeking to review its musical obligations, between television and music, it is nevertheless an old love story… Concerts, musicals, record productions: television channels have largely developed diversification projects in music. And this since their beginnings.
Those over 20 may remember the “as seen on TV” compilations of star artists and other anthems of the “Loft” of yesteryear. For example, M6 took advantage of its successful programs like “Dance Machine” to then offer compilations, tours in the 90s, etc.
A young audience
In 1993, the 8 “Dance Machine” albums sold 3 million copies, relate Marc Pellerin and François Viot, in their book “M6 Story”. “M6 had a young audience and broadcast a lot of music: it was therefore legitimate to develop in this sector”, recalls Robin Leproux, M6’s “diversification” gentleman at the time, who had just come from Polygram (later brought closer to Vivendi Universal).
“We even made comedians from the ‘Classe Mannequin’ series sing,” smiles this manager, now head of Espot, a mecca for video games in Paris.
And all the more so as the stars could also find themselves in dedicated magazines, or the press intended for young people, like “Fan 2”, also belonging to the M6 galaxy at the time. Not to mention the multitude of derivative products (caps etc.). Today, the group still has activities in music, but the diversification pole is much less important than in the past.
Indochina, Julien Clerc etc…
At TF1, too, music is an old story. The leader in private television today brings together several activities (TF1 Musique, TF1 Spectacle, etc.). But, above all, he owns 42% of the Play Two label. This is present both in shows, with more than 700 concerts last year – including the Indochina stadium tour and the musical project “Molière” – and on records, with more than 50 albums such as Marc Lavoine, Julien Clerc etc..
At the time of Believe’s entry into its capital, the company was valued at almost 50 million euros. Finally, TF1 is the majority shareholder of STS, the operating company of the Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris.
For the audiovisual group as for M6, which both put on the air several programs focused on music such as “The Voice” or “Star Academy”, there is a logic to developing in music: first, to diversify their income and depend less on television , then to “take advantage of the power of the brand of a television group for marketing”, adds Alice Enders, of the firm Enders Analysis.
“It’s a logical association between media and entertainment,” she continues. “In addition, television channels are used to making major broadcasts, know the ecosystem well: they thus transpose this know-how in concerts in particular, at a time when live is very popular”.
Finally, television channels can take advantage of their shows to promote young artists and then keep them in the TF1 ecosystem. This is for example the case of Slimane, spotted in “The Voice”, who signed with Play Two. M6 had also tried the adventure of a label with Pascal Nègre (Six et Sept) to detect new talents and make them grow in the M6 universe. Alas, the partnership only lasted about two years, noted “Letter A”, without the reasons being given.
Be that as it may, music is a business that generally works well for the chains. While the results are hidden in larger sets of diversification, TF1 notes in its annual report that in 2022, “the turnover of the music and events activities is up sharply”, with the post-crisis recovery sanitary. Similarly, M6 Interactions (music, shows, literary publishing, etc.) progressed last year.