• The colleagues of World Music Charts Europe have released their list of 2021. Their top 10 are the albums by: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Warsaw Village Band, Monsieur Doumani, Antonis Antoniou, Liraz, L’Alba, Sofia Labropoulou, Altin Gün, Samba Touré and Tara Fuki. Congratulations! Check the complete list here.

I don’t remember when I met Laurent, the director of Crépuscule Productions. Maybe at the long-missed Babel Med. For me he has been one of those people who have always been part of the world music scene and with whom you feel you share certain things, such as good taste. Hehehe.

According to his website, Crépuscule Productions is a booking agency dedicated to world musics and “musiques actuelles sans frontières”. I keep this part in French because this concept of “musiques actualles” is very French.

Thank you, Laurent!

LB: It’s not easy for me to answer to this. I just feel my only “skill” is my passion for music and that alone drives me to do what I’m trying to do: help musicians develop their career. Then, it’s a cocktail of patience, experience over the years with failures, mistakes and successes, the people you meet and network with,…

Mapamundi Música: Apart from that, which other skills do you think are essential to succeed in this field of work? 

LB: Conviction and patience. A lot of patience. Luck can also be a crucial factor: when you meet the great, smart artist at the right time…

Mapamundi Música: Any particular advice for a fellow newcomer or someone who wants to get started in this field?

LB: Have confidence and enthusiasm. Never forget you’re at the service of the musicians. A French colleague had a relevant formula: we are the employers of our bosses.

Mapamundi Música: And now, for the artists. I’m sure you get requests from artists every day to be their manager. I am sure because it happens to me too, and many colleagues tell me the same thing. Do you have any recommendations for the artists, so that they can improve the way they communicate when they do it for this purpose? 

LB: A lot of the requests I get come from artists who are musically very or too close to artists I am already working with. I would advise them to get in touch with agencies where they would be kind of unique, different, complementary from the rest of the catalogue. But I understand you are inclined to knock at every door when you are looking for partnerships.

Mapamundi Música: Do you think it makes sense for the artists to try to find an agent? Have you ever started a stable collaboration with a band or artist that approached you in their search of an agent? 

LB: Definitely. First, the artist will save a lot of time and energy. Second, we can use our expertise and network to resolve problems the artist may not be able to solve by himself (search for a label, distributor, etc.). I’ve been working with artists since the creation of Crépuscule Productions in 2008 and we’re still enjoying working together despite the inevitable ups and downs.

Mapamundi Música: I think there will be still, at least for many years, a lot of artists and a much smaller number of agents, that is the current situation. This makes me think that we are not in a very interesting business, otherwise there would be many more agents working in world music. Nevertheless, it seems the artists require us. Something seems to be wrong, what is it?

LB: French mainstream media have reduced their support for world music. I don’t believe that the use of social networks compensated for this decrease, like for other musical genres. Now, mainstream media is watching what’s popular in social nertworks… I don’t know how to solve this equation. The audiences we traditionally target use social media but not as intensively as the younger generations. And the younger generations are overwhelmed by the content valued on these social networks, which does not really value musical diversity (although the word “diversity” is now a mantra used to enhance our western multi-cultural societies…).

For me, the development of the use of the internet has created a paradox: it has never been easier to discover new music and the public has never seemed so unconcerned. The offer is suddenly so vast that we are lost, helpless, facing this digital ocean and we take refuge in musical genres or artists that we already know, which reassures us. The world music scene is a vast ocean in itself, which is great for us, but probably kind of scary (or boring!) for some people. This is perhaps what makes us fragile.

We are a niche, within the music industry, which has benefited from public financial support for culture, and which has perhaps preserved us from the fierce competition of the market. Since the last decade and over, things have drastically changed, and we are now more and more confronted with this market reality. For most of us, it does not correspond to our philosophy, our desire to defend and promote musical aesthetics which, for us, carry much more than thei commercial potential. We must try to hold on with conviction, patience, confidence and enthusiasm, but I believe it’s the artists themselves who give us the strength to continue. And if the public could support us a little more, it would almost be heaven!

Credits:

• Portrait of Laurent, provided by him.
• Logo and patchwork, from Crépuscule Productions’ website.

• Folk Alliance International annual conference. Hybrid event, with the in-person portion being held at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. 23rd-27th February. More info, here. Registration is open, both for the in person and for the only online categories, here. My Vigüela are part of the official selection and they will participate with a new online showcase.

• Coimbra, Portugal, for a concert by Monsieur Doumani. 21st January. This concert has been postponed several times. Let’s see what happens for this new date.

• Lisbon, Portugal, for the third concert of the series of Músicas Escondidas at the Museum of Orient. 4th February: Daud Khan Sadozai. The first and second concerts of this series two times postponed have been a real success. They have been by Nouruz Ensemble and by Egschiglen. The third one will be by this Afghan master of rubab and sarod, Daud Khan.

WHO WE ARE AND SISTER PROJECTS 

Mapamundi Música is an agency of management and booking. Learn more here. Check our proposals at our website.

We also offer you our Mundofonías radio show, probably the leader about world music in Spanish language (on 50 stations in 18 countries). We produce the Transglobal World Music Chart with our partner Ángel Romero from WorldMusicCentral.com.

Feel free to request info if you wish. For further information about us, get in touch by email, telephone (+34 676 30 28 82), our website or at our Facebook.