How did your life in music and music publishing begin?
It started very early with a passion for music. I didn't go to a business school and back then, there was no real school in France to study the music business. So, I started by managing a band from my town, which is 200 kilometers south of Paris. I learned about independence by touring with the band, booking shows and taking charge of the merchandising.
Later on, I did a six-month course to learn how things work properly. It was like a school with music business people teaching and explaining the industry. After that I started as a trainee at Universal Music Publishing in 2005. I was the assistant to four A&R managers. It was just basic stuff, serving coffees and helping the department. Then I started to go to shows.
I had my first job on the recording side at an indie label in France as a talent scout. My job was to be out every night and go to shows in Paris, and the morning after, go back and talk to our team and explain what I'd discovered.
So I started like this, and very early on Caroline Molko, who was Warner Chappell’s previous MD, heard about me and asked for a meeting. She told me she wanted a junior A&R manager who has an indie background and understood underground culture. So, I joined Warner Chappell in 2007 as a junior A&R manager.
At that time the record industry was in a crisis, so I used the A&R publisher role as a place to sign artists early, and most of the time, be the first partner they had. This way, I learned how to be around an artist who doesn't have another partner, and how to play a role in the development of their career. I worked very early on with Orelsan who is now probably the most important male rapper and singer-songwriter in France.
It was 18 years ago that I started working with him and he’s still signed to Warner Chappell. I became Head of A&R in September 2016, and a few months later, I signed an early contract with female singer-songwriter Aya Nakamura and a copublishing deal with Angèle, who have both since become female icons of the Afro and Pop Francophone scene. Later on, the previous MD decided to leave the company and helped me to learn the role, and Guy Moot gave me the chance to become Managing Director of Warner Chappell Music France in January 2021.