Popular Music in France and Action Culturelle When Musicians Become Cultural Policy Agents

In France, the involvement of the public sector in cultural affairs administration and financing is robust and structured, especially when compared to such countries as the US and the UK, which are traditionally more related to a free-market economy. As far as popular music is concerned, this means that—with the exception of some big mainstream music industry players—most musicians and labels have to negotiate with various actors in the public sector (local cultural authorities, government agencies, programmers of publicly subsidized venues) to ensure their “survival” in the sector. In particular, the demand for actions culturelles, that is, various types of cultural practices designed for specific audiences (mainly children or adolescents, but also the elderly, inhabitants of disadvantaged neighborhoods, etc.) and responding to various needs of social development (i.e., encouraging the general public’s direct participation in artistic practices by means of interaction with musicians, etc.), has increased in recent years within the cultural policies aimed at popular music. First, I will describe the historical development of action culturelle programs in France by highlighting their roots in a precise cultural policy tradition. Then, by studying some musical projects based in Strasbourg, I will describe and analyze the motivations that lead some artists to develop action culturelle projects and the strategies with which these projects are implemented. The aim of the chapter, which belongs within the framework of cultural policy studies, is to bring out the critical issues of a notion of music as an instrument of social cohesion, which in turn may imply a work culture where musicians, while partially breaking free from the constraints of the market, are bound to fulfill the criteria of political agendas.