French pop music is the pop music sung in the French language. It is usually performed by singers from France, Belgium, Quebec, or any of the other francophone areas of the world. The target audience is the francophone market (primarily France), which is considerably smaller and largely independent from the mainstream anglophone market. For popular music (music produced commercially rather than art or folk music), see Popular music. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Flower Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor Linné) Tree Yellow Birch Bird Snowy Owl Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of... Francophone means French-speaking. ... Francophone means French-speaking. ... Look up Anglophone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

France has long been considered a centre for European art and music. ... Of all the European countries, France has one of the longest and best-documented traditions of classical music. ... As Europe experienced a wave of roots revivals, France found its regional cultures reviving traditional music. ... Most French hip hop artists come from poor suburbs of Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Toulouse or Marseille. ... France has a long history with the jazz music. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... // Medieval Period Main article: Medieval music Some of the earliest manuscripts with polyphony are organum from 10th century French cities like Chartres and Tours. ... The NRJ Music Awards, created in 2000 by the radio station NRJ in partnership with the television network TF1 takes place every year in mid-January at Cannes (PACA, France) as the opening of MIDEM (Marché international de lédition musicale). ... Victoires de la musique is a French award show that recognizes the best singers of the year. ... The Institut français dopinion publique (IFOP) is an international marketing firm, whose motto is Global strenght in marketing intelligence. Its CEO is Laurence Parisot, who is also the current leader of the MEDEF French employers trade union. ... A music festival is a festival that presents a number of musical performances usually tied together through a theme or genre. ... // Quick history The Printemps de Bourges is a music festival, started in 1977 by Jean Christophe Dechico (director of the Maison de la Culture at the time), Alain Meilland (actor and singer) and Daniel Colling (music booking agent). ... A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that is evoking and eulogizing the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognzed either by a nations government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. ... La Marseillaise IPA: is the national anthem of France. ... Auvergne is a region in France. ... Aquitaine is a French region, consisting of the dèpartements of Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. ... The Basque are an ethnic group living in parts of France and Spain, with the majority in the latter country. ... Brittany is a Celtic country rich in its cultural heritage. ... Burgundy became a major center for musical development during the Renaissance era. ... Outside of France, the island of Corsica is perhaps best known musically for its polyphonic choral tradition. ... Gascony is a region of France that has produced several well-known performers and composers of classical, folk and popular music. ... The most well-known musician from the Occitan region of Limousin is probably the piper Eric Montbel, a former member of such legendary bands as Lo Jai, Le Grand Rouge, and Ulysse; he plays the chabreta, or Limousin bagpipe. ... The former French colonies of Martinique and Guadeloupe are small islands in the Caribbean. ... Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the music of Tahiti was dominated by festivals called heiva. ...

History

The first distinct French pop music styles that emerged were the French rock and the yé-yé, which originated in France during the 1960s. They were influenced by the American rock & roll of the 1950s and was Anglo-American in style. In the early days, this style of French pop music was easily distinguishable from the earlier category of French music called chanson in English. Eventually the early French pop music and the chanson styles crossed over and combined, forming the French pop music of today. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Yé-yé is a style of pop music, popular in France in the 1960s. ... // 1950s Covers: Early 50s Through the late 1940s and early 1950s, rhythm and blues music had been gaining a stronger beat and a wilder style, with artists such as Fats Domino and Johnny Otis speeding up the tempos and increasing the backbeat to great popularity on the juke-joint circuit. ... Chanson is a French word for song, and in English-language contexts is often applied to any song with French words, particularly a cabaret song. ...

Language barrier

French pop singers usually do not cross over to become a mainstream anglophone pop singer and vice versa, largely due to the language barrier. A notable exception is Jane Birkin from the United Kingdom, who became a leading French pop singer during the yé-yé era or the 1960s. A more recent example is Tina Arena from Australia, who released an all French album, Un Autre Univers, currently a big hit in France. Birkin in 2005 Jane Birkin OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an actress and singer. ... Yé-yé is a style of pop music, popular in France in the 1960s. ... Tina Arena (born Filippina Lydia Arena on November 1, 1967, in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne, Australia) is a pop singer. ... Un Autre Univers is fifth and first French album from the Australian singer Tina Arena. ...

Radio in France

French pop music can be heard on radio stations in France, such as NRJ Radio, Europe 2, Chérie FM, and others. (There are francophone radio stations outside of France, but the ones in France are the most influential with respect to French pop music.) Besides French pop music, these radio stations typically play mainstream pop music (in English) as well as Latin pop, Italian pop, and African pop depending on the station. NRJ (or Energy) is a radio company and brand of commercial radio stations in Europe. ... Latin pop or Pop Latino, in Spanish is pop music from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and from some Hispanic singers. ... Africa is a continent with a wide range of ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity. ...

Radio stations in France are required to play at least 40% of their songs in French, during prime hours. France's Pelchat amendment to the 1994 Broadcasting Reform Act is the law which requires this.

There are studies which correlate radio station play-time with album sales. And that seems to have been one of the motivations to pass this law, for the benefit of protecting the French music industry and their sales of French pop music. Without this law, Anglo-American music (songs in English) would have surely overshadowed French pop music.

References

• David Looseley, Popular Music in Contemporary France: Authenticity, Politics, Debate, Berg Publishers, 2004 (ISBN 1-85973-636-X)
• Hugh Dauncey & Steve Cannon (editors), Popular Music in France from Chanson to Techno: Culture, Identity, and Society, Ashgate Publishing, 2003 (ISBN 0-7546-0849-2)