By mandating a subsidiary of Warner Music to administer the work of her father, Jacques Brel, France Brel ensures that“it is not a question of selling, but of sharing” the work of the singer. Invited Monday, January 31 from franceinfo, the daughter of Jacques Brel, director of the Brel foundation in Brussels, explains that this approach has nothing to do with an assignment of rights but will allow “to expand the collaboration with Warner”. She indicates that the demand is growing all over the world to translate, adapt or use the songs of the Belgian singer who died in 1978.
franceinfo: What does this expansion of the collaboration with Warner actually mean?
What will change is the number of texts, songs on which we will work together. Until now Warner co-administered 16 tracks with Éditions Brel. Instead of 16, it will now be 130 since Éditions Brel in Brussels has 130 titles by Jacques. Warner, with its networks around the world, will handle these 130 songs.
It is not a question of selling?
Absolutely not. It’s not about selling. It is a question of sharing because the requests, whether for synchros, graphic reproductions or translations are on the increase. We don’t know why, it’s a mystery.
Is it also a question of dusting off certain contracts?
Yes, because there are lots of things that happened years ago. For example, there were sub-publishing contracts with Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists. So things have to be cleaned up. In the early 1960s, all publishers wanted to sign sub-publishing contracts with the whole world. Today, the whole world has changed so we have to take things in hand.
Today, is there still a desire for Jacques Brel in the world?
Yes, everywhere. And this demand crosses the oceans. Over the past ten years, the big change has come mainly from the United States, which is increasingly asking to use the works of Jacques Brel.