(Paris) A subsidiary of Warner Music is mandated by France Brel to administer the work of her father, Jacques, of which she remains the owner and guarantor, unlike the case of David Bowie whose catalog has been sold, the parties announced on Sunday. AFP.
Posted at 4:57 p.m.
“I am the opposite of these maneuvers (Bob Dylan or David Bowie, whose catalogs have been sold, Ed). I will never be able to sell my father’s catalog, I have not become mentally ill (laughs), it’s a partnership, to benefit from Warner’s global network, ”explained France Brel to AFP.
“We are not making an acquisition. As much as Bowie’s catalog was acquired by Warner Chappell, there, Editions Jacques Brel (directed by France Brel) retain ownership of the work and the rights”, complete for AFP Matthieu Tessier, president of Warner Chappell Music France .
“We have a mandate to represent them, ensure for them the proper recovery of rights, give them visibility and send them proposals for use (film, show, etc.)”, continues the manager.
Until now, Warner Chappell has co-administered, with Editions Jacques Brel, 16 pieces from Jacques Brel’s repertoire, including standards such as “Ne me quitte pas” or “La valse à mille temps”.
On the basis of “a renewable collaboration for five years”, according to France Brel, Warner Chappell will represent in the world (except Belgium) the “catalogue of the Editions Jacques Brel, that is to say 130 titles”. This constitutes “the vast majority of his repertoire” according to Warner Chappell.
“The teams of Warner Chappell, about forty in the world, will look at the (operating) contracts, in countries where I do not go every week, such as Indonesia or India”, continues the daughter of Jacques Brel , which remains the sole decision-maker to validate or not the uses of the work of “Grand Jacques”.
And France Brel illustrates: “My mother, who took care of my father’s (musical) editions from 1962, had, for example, signed (operating) contracts in countries that no longer exist, such as Yugoslavia. We don’t know what happened to it.”
“Warner will also be able to see if, for example, people who put on a show in Greece with songs by Jacques Brel are in good order with a rights collection company,” she explains.
Jacques Brel “is one of a handful of world-renowned French-speaking singers for his interpretations and adaptations of Anglo-Saxon artists, which have become classics, for example in the United States”, develops Matthieu Tessier.
The author of “Amsterdam” has been taken over by Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, David Bowie or Marianne Faithfull.
“This week, there is a guy who contacted us to translate 50 songs into Finnish”, quotes France Brel again.