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Technopol
French Techno Gets Its Act Together
Paris
01/03/1999 -
What have Technopol been up to since the famous Techno Parade ?
SOPHIE BERNARD : Well, right after the Techno Parade we were busy dashing between two offices. But things have calmed down a bit since then and the main office has now moved from Lyon to Paris.
LIONEL FOURRE : There have been a few changes on the Technopol staff too. We held elections for the new office and then Eric Morand came on board as director of Technopol's new HQ.
S.B. : The Techno Parade got our organisation a lot of media coverage. Everyone knows the name Technopol now - which is great! But what we have to do now is show the public that there's a lot more to Technopol than organising street parades. We're also here to inform people about rave culture and offer advice.
But what about the Techno Parade which you organised in Paris in 98? Do you think it backed up Technopol's demands and helped you get your message across? Or do you think most people just remember it as a wacky street carnival on a Saturday afternoon?
L.F. : Actually, I don't think the Techno Parade was a good way of getting Technopol's more serious demands across. In fact, this year we've had a major rethink and changed the way in which the Techno Parade is organised. Rather than looking after everything ourselves, we've handed the organisation of the street parade over to W.M., an independent association which specialises in street theatre and processions. This means that we'll be able to get on and work on more serious dossiers. Last year the day-to-day organisation of the Techno Parade was so time-consuming - I mean, we had a team of 15 volunteers who did nothing but work on it every single day for a whole year! Basically, we felt we had to free ourselves up to get on with other work. So this year Technopol will just be involved with the administrative side of the Techno Parade, dealing with the selection of the floats and things like that. But the rest of the Techno Parade will be in the hands of W.M.
Sophie, you're in charge of selecting the floats for this year's Techno Parade. How are things going?
S.B. : Well, this year things are going to be a bit different. We've decided to group all the Paris floats together for a start. And this year we're on a drive to get the French provinces involved in the Parade, so we've come up with the idea of letting each town send its own float. There's already a lot of enthusiasm about the next Techno Parade, you know, people have been ringing up since last October!
So does this mean the Techno Parade '99 will be decentralised? Are there going to be mini Techno Parades up and down the country?
S.B. : No, there'll just be one major Parade in Paris like last year. But this isn't the only French Techno Parade, you know. Other people have already started organising their own Techno Parades elsewhere. In fact, Noumea has just held the first Techno Parade in the Pacific!
What about Technopol's other work? I know you've been fighting to try and get DJs the same status as other recording artists. How far have you actually got with that?
S.R. : Well, the French Ministry of Culture have looked up an old 1945 statute and are now in favour of giving 'live' DJs the same status as other artists. Meanwhile, radio DJs and re-mixers will be able to sign on as 'intermittents du spectacle' (which allows them to draw a special form of unemployment benefit reserved for audio-visual technicians/ actors/ musicians etc. ). As for DJs who work in nightclubs and discos, they're going to be accorded the same status as presenters.
However, for the time being, the A.D.A.M.I. (a French association dealing with music copyright) has not budged from its position. It still considers that a DJ -i.e. a musician who uses turntables instead of instruments - is not a musician but a technician. A DJ who performs his/her music live is considered as a musician and has the same rights as 'intermittents' but s/he cannot claim artistic copyright from the A.D.A.M.I. or the S.P.E.D.I.D.A.M. These copyright organisations have got to realise that things have changed. You know, when it comes to techno, people do everything - a DJ is a songwriter, composer, performer and a producer. The problem is DJs don't fit into the current French system which divides the music world up into songwriters and composers on the one hand and performers and recording artists on the other. And artists involved in electro, techno and the dance scene still have a real problem claiming copyright from organisations like the A.D.A.M.I. Basically, there's a real gulf separating the two - the people at A.D.A.M.I. don't understand how it works in techno and techno musicians don't understand what organisations like the A.D.A.M.I. or the S.P.P.F. (Société des producteurs de phonogrammes et vidéogrammes en France) can do for them.
Do you think the legal framework in France has adapted to the arrival of techno?
L.F : In some cases it has, in some cases it hasn't. There's a real problem with the S.A.C.E.M. (another French copyright association), for example. Very few techno artists are aware that they can put in copyright claims to the S.A.C.E.M., which would give them a certain percentage every time their work is performed. What we at Technopol need to do is get the dance music milieu to become more 'professionalised', and help artists start standing up for their rights.
The problem is that there's a lack of comprehension on the part of the S.A.C.E.M. too. If you take a techno event, for example, you have a cross-over of "live acts" and DJs - i.e. DJs mixing their own work live on stage and other DJs mixing other people's records. But the people at S.A.C.E.M. don't seem to be able to understand this basic difference. What we classify as a live act is a guy who gets up on stage with his computers, his rhythm boxes and synths and plays his own work like Jean-Michel Jarre. But SACEM can't get their heads round that. Basically, we've got a lot of work to do, both in educating people at copyright associations and educating techno artists about how to claim their copyright. It's something that's going to take a lot of time!
S.R. : But the good news is that some associations have shown themselves to be willing to listen to our side of the story. The A.D.A.M.I. recently invited us in to talk with them and we had a very co-operative discussion, looking at different ways of solving the problem. But other organisations have been much more negative - S.P.E.D.I.D.A.M. didn't reply to us for a long time and then when they did they totally opposed all our claims.
Have you had any other useful contact with other organisations?
S.R. : The IRMA (the Information and Resource Centre for Contemporary Music) are giving us a helping hand and Le Confort Moderne (a concert venue in Poitiers) have helped us organise a series of seminars on the subject. The A.D.A.M.I. and the 'Fonds de soutien' have also created special commissions to consider the status of techno artists. But it's such a lengthy process. It takes such a long time to appoint people to the commission, then set up the enquiry, then send us a letter inviting us to explain our case ... The whole thing seems to take years!
L.F : But, it must be said, things have come a long way since the Techno Parade. The Parade helped to show the extent of the techno phenomenon.
And what about your negotiations with the French Ministry of the Interior concerning the status of rave parties?
L.F. : Well, there was a circular sent round in 1995 which was extremely repressive in the measures it sought to take against the techno movement. Then the document was amended - but that took about 18 months, as the document had to be passed back and forth between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Interior. Anyway, a new circular has finally been signed and, on the whole, we're pretty satisfied with it. Apart from a clause in the 2nd paragraph which envisages the arrest of participants at illegal raves. This is a bit of a contentious issue as ravers don't always know whether the event they're attending is legal or not.
What effect did the 1995 circular have on the French rave scene?
L.F. : Well, I live in Dijon, halfway between Paris and Lyon. And I can tell you that in Dijon there are a lot less flyers in the record shops these days. Which proves that the local rave scene has fallen off a bit.
But the French rave scene varies a lot from one region to another, doesn't it? And local police chiefs often interpret the government circular quite differently …
L.F. : Sure, there are a lot of regional variations. You don't organise a rave in Annecy like you would in Montpellier, for example. In fact, this is one of the main problems we're fighting against. The way we see it, we live in a republic which means that the law should be applied in exactly the same way everywhere!
S.R. : But it's not! In Brittany - a region I know very well - the local authorities are really tolerant of raves.
OK, so Brittany's cool about techno, but where has the rave scene gone into decline?
S.R. : Anjou, Aquitaine, Rhône-Alpes, part of the South-West and the upper half of the South-East.
L.F. : And the fact that the rave scene has gone into decline in certain regions poses a real problem as far as young up-and-coming artists are concerned. Techno's a really young movement - I mean, the biggest stars on the techno scene are only aged between 22 and 24. If the rave scene continues to go into decline, it means new talent will have no outlet and will end up being nipped in the bud!
So what are the requirements for organising a legal rave?
L.F. : Technopol have just published a mini-guide to the rave scene which explains how to organise legal events. It's pretty simple, really. You have to organise the rave in a place which conforms to safety 'norms' - i.e. a local community hall or a private estate. You have to get insurance, a drinks licence and provide a proper security service. And you have to declare the artists involved with the copyright associations. It's not difficult to organise a creative and original event which conforms to the legal requirements. Right now, our association is also involved with a number of European networks which are trying to renovate industrial wasteland and turn it into party space. And one of Technopol's other major projects this year is to draw up an 'official' list of all the French artists involved in the techno scene.
Interviews: Gilles Rio
Translation: Julie Street
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