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UK radio station with a very French feel
Source: Agencies |
November 25, 2010, Thursday
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AMONG the stereotypes the British and the French like to cultivate about each other is a widely held British -belief that French pop music is dreadful.
But a new radio station, broadcasting in French from London, has hopes of challenging local prejudices.
"Mainstream English radio tends to be inherently dismissive and arrogant when it comes to French music. They will just say 'Ah, it's French? Forget it,'" said Pascal Grierson, founder and CEO of French Radio London or FRL, which launched last week.
Grierson is half-French, but has spent much of his life in Britain and feels at home in both cultures.
A digital station backed by a few private investors, FRL is mostly aimed at the estimated 400,000 French residents of London, which is often called "France's fifth city."
"This is long overdue. We needed to represent ourselves and reflect the way in which our community integrates with this town," Grierson told Reuters in an interview at FRL's studios.
He wants the station to capture some of the spirit of London and why it attracts so many French people. For example, he says one of the joys of Britain is that people take themselves less seriously than in France, and FRL will aim to emulate the brand of self-deprecating humor that works so well in Britain.
But his ambition stretches further. He says there is also an untapped market of British francophiles, and FRL can conquer it.
"The likelihood is that the francophile community is huge, and I'm banking on it," Grierson said, citing statistics like the fact that around 14 million Britons visit France each year.
So how to draw in these potential listeners, given that FRL plans to devote most of its airtime to French music and that by Grierson's own assessment, "the default man-on-the-street view in Britain is that French pop is terrible?"
He says that if you look closely, British attitudes to French music are more subtle. He draws a distinction between three broad categories.
The first is classic "chanson" from the mid-20th century, epitomized by artists with powerful voices and personalities, like Edith Piaf, Juliette Greco or Jacques Brel (who was a francophone Belgian). They are widely appreciated in Britain.
The second period spans the 1960s to the 1990s and includes singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg as well as pop acts who were successful in France, like France Gall.
Grierson's third category are French acts who have gained a large British following, such as Air, Daft Punk and Cassius.
He says their popularity offers hope that FRL can entice hip young Londoners into exploring French talent such as rockers BB Brunes.
But a new radio station, broadcasting in French from London, has hopes of challenging local prejudices.
"Mainstream English radio tends to be inherently dismissive and arrogant when it comes to French music. They will just say 'Ah, it's French? Forget it,'" said Pascal Grierson, founder and CEO of French Radio London or FRL, which launched last week.
Grierson is half-French, but has spent much of his life in Britain and feels at home in both cultures.
A digital station backed by a few private investors, FRL is mostly aimed at the estimated 400,000 French residents of London, which is often called "France's fifth city."
"This is long overdue. We needed to represent ourselves and reflect the way in which our community integrates with this town," Grierson told Reuters in an interview at FRL's studios.
He wants the station to capture some of the spirit of London and why it attracts so many French people. For example, he says one of the joys of Britain is that people take themselves less seriously than in France, and FRL will aim to emulate the brand of self-deprecating humor that works so well in Britain.
But his ambition stretches further. He says there is also an untapped market of British francophiles, and FRL can conquer it.
"The likelihood is that the francophile community is huge, and I'm banking on it," Grierson said, citing statistics like the fact that around 14 million Britons visit France each year.
So how to draw in these potential listeners, given that FRL plans to devote most of its airtime to French music and that by Grierson's own assessment, "the default man-on-the-street view in Britain is that French pop is terrible?"
He says that if you look closely, British attitudes to French music are more subtle. He draws a distinction between three broad categories.
The first is classic "chanson" from the mid-20th century, epitomized by artists with powerful voices and personalities, like Edith Piaf, Juliette Greco or Jacques Brel (who was a francophone Belgian). They are widely appreciated in Britain.
The second period spans the 1960s to the 1990s and includes singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg as well as pop acts who were successful in France, like France Gall.
Grierson's third category are French acts who have gained a large British following, such as Air, Daft Punk and Cassius.
He says their popularity offers hope that FRL can entice hip young Londoners into exploring French talent such as rockers BB Brunes.
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