Interview with Jean-Christophe Bourgeois (EDHEC Master 1992), Managing Director of Sony Music Publishing France

Each time a musical work from the Sony Music Publishing catalogue is played, recorded, or reproduced, royalties are paid to its songwriters, just like for any other music publisher. Jean-Christophe Bourgeois (Master 1992 and Affiliate Professor at EDHEC), Managing Director of the French subsidiary, explains how the transformations of the music industry in the early 2000s, and later during the COVID period, redefined the relationship with artists, their remuneration, and their career development.

How would you summarize your role and current responsibilities?

I oversee the exploitation of our catalogue and help develop our pool of artists. I also handle some financial aspects that can be cross-functional, and I work on catalogue acquisitions. For the past ten years, I’ve also developed the institutional side of my work, which has led me to sit on the Board of Directors of the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique (Sacem) — from which the majority of French publishers’ revenue originates, as it acts as the intermediary for rights when music is played on the radio, at concerts, in clubs, via streaming, or reproduced on CDs. I am also Vice President of the Chambre Syndicale de l’Édition musicale and President of Tous Pour La Musique, an association bringing together around thirty representative organizations in the sector (employee unions, live producers, platform representatives, press officers, orchestras, opera houses, etc.).

What drives you in your work with artists?

This work changes completely from one artist to another. Some of our songwriters are performing artists of their own works, while others write exclusively for third-party performers — like our beatmakers, who produce tracks for numerous rappers without being performers themselves. Whatever their profile, they need to be supported in their careers, helped to achieve success and their creative goals, and spoken to with one clear voice. Our support varies depending on the stage of their career and their artistic ambitions, but it can and should be essential, because making a living from music is not easy. Every day, 120,000 new tracks are uploaded to platforms, giving a sense of the competition and the challenge of reaching audiences. In this context, I particularly enjoy the work of the publisher, because it often comes at the beginning of the creative process — the production of works, the development of an artist’s repertoire and community — and involves starting to tell a story to then rally and attract other partners, such as record labels or live producers. I also appreciate that the relationship between a publisher and creators can last many years. For example, I signed the band KYO when they were 16 years old, and we’ve just celebrated the 20th anniversary of their album Le Chemin, which we re-recorded and around which we built a celebratory tour that ended with a sold-out date at the Accor Arena, before heading into a new album. Every story is different, and each creator must be supported in a specific and evolving way over time — that’s what makes this work so exciting.

Has the way you spot artists changed?

Not really — it’s more that the industry is constantly evolving. Everything has been upended by successive revolutions: MP3, peer-to-peer file sharing, the collapse of the CD market, and then the rise of streaming, which reshuffled the deck and forced artists to release music differently — often more frequently. Social media has, of course, become an essential tool for discovery and promotion. Ten to fifteen years ago, it relied heavily on networks, recommendations, and opening acts. In recent years, there’s been a strong trend to place data — followers and views on TikTok, Instagram, and platforms in general — at the heart of signing decisions. Data is a key source of information, but it doesn’t always lead to the best choices: some artists with impressive numbers at a given moment aren’t necessarily sustainable, whereas a publisher aims to build careers and assets with lasting residual value. And once data confirms early success, everyone’s already watching these artists, and signing conditions become tougher. The goal is therefore to arrive as early as possible, and sometimes to sign artists even before they have significant social media metrics.

What role do artists play in this new environment?

The market is such that record labels often prefer to support artists who already have a vision rather than build from scratch. Priority is given to those who are autonomous, able to grow and engage a community, and shape their image. I still have the privilege of making bets, but I must, in close collaboration with the artist, craft a powerful enough storytelling to bring other partners along on the journey. Being an artist today is particularly challenging, because of the many hats they are expected to wear — hence the growing talk of the “artist-entrepreneur.” They need perseverance and the ability to find their voice on social media, to create content that excites audiences, to understand algorithms, and to grow their community. I find it remarkable that artists manage, despite these pressures, to produce music of such high quality — though it comes at a great personal cost, which can affect their daily lives and even raise mental health concerns.

What makes France a unique market?

The private sector is active and dynamic, contributing to the strong market share of local artists — a distinctive feature of our territory. France, for example, is the second-largest rap market in the world after the U.S., thanks entirely to local production. We also benefit from a subsidized cultural model — sometimes challenged by current budgetary choices — with a true public service ambition that helps sustain high standards in opera and orchestras, and supports a diversity of artistic expressions that many countries envy. One positive effect of this dynamic is that our music travels: from French Touch to jazz to Afro pop, our repertoire exports. I have the privilege of working with “electro” artists whose music crosses borders, such as Gesaffelstein, who composed four tracks on Lady Gaga’s latest album; Petit Biscuit, whose track “Sunset Lover” is approaching one billion streams on Spotify; or M83, whose music resonates across the Atlantic. Likewise, artists like Gims or Zaz demonstrate that the French language is no longer a barrier to international success. We constantly work to showcase the French market’s creative strength and appeal.

How has the distribution of copyright revenues evolved across different formats?

The post-COVID years saw a live music boom, driven by two factors. First, the strong appetite for shared music experiences that bring together diverse audiences and cultures. Second, many artists who were unable to tour during COVID hit the road as soon as they could. For many of them, streaming growth still hasn’t offset declining CD sales. Even though the recorded music market has been growing for several years, it had fallen so sharply in the early 2000s that it has yet to return to previous peaks. 

In addition to the explosion of live music and the growth of streaming, songwriters and publishers have also benefited from the rise of the synchronization market (lump-sum rights paid to use a work in audiovisual programs, films, advertising campaigns, video games…), which has become a significant source of income — accounting for around 20% of revenues on average, and often much more for purely instrumental or electronic music.

What motivates you to serve on Sacem’s Board of Directors?

In my institutional roles, I want to give back what I’ve received. I dreamed of working in music from a young age, and I’m fortunate to do so alongside incredibly committed, talented, and passionate people. There’s a strong sense of collective interest and public good. As for Sacem’s board, I felt it was the right time to run because the stakes are higher than ever. In my first year on the board, I wanted to contribute in my own way and serve the community of songwriters and publishers who elected me. Members’ expectations are increasingly high: beyond representation, we need to make decisions and guide them through a more complex and anxiety-inducing environment than twenty years ago. For example, I worked with other board members and Sacem’s teams on a paper defining a clear and concrete position on artificial intelligence for Sacem’s 240,000 members.

How does Sacem reconcile technological revolutions with protecting artists?

Protecting members and their works is a core mission of Sacem. More broadly, in the long term, it’s about defending the professions of authors, composers, publishers, subtitlers, directors… Five-year forecasts are difficult due to the rapid evolution of tools and their capabilities. We therefore try to think ahead to tomorrow and beyond, allowing ourselves to adjust our positions as we did on AI. By default, asking authors for permission to use their works and not registering works created solely with AI is a strong and clear stance by Sacem. We are working with lawmakers, politicians, and business leaders to show that economic progress is not incompatible with copyright protection — that it’s possible to establish licensing agreements for AI projects that respect human creativity. Instead of rejecting technological advances, we must embrace them while ensuring they protect creators, in a context of transparency and traceability.

Learn more about Sony Music Publishing

Learn more about Sacem