From Paris With Love: France Focus Index Page

‘The Risk Is Also What Turns Me On’: Q’s With Matthieu Drouot, CEO, Gérard Drouot Productions

When Pollstar reached out to Matthieu Drouot for our annual France Focus, he was just about to launch a sold-out eight-date residency of Melody Gardot at L’Olympia Paris. 15,000 tickets, sold out. It’s but one of many success stories, Gérard Drouot Productions is celebrating in 2025, which isn’t an easy year by any stretch of the imagination.

What helps navigate the dynamic French market is the fact that Matthieu Drouot learned from the best; that he has a passionate team willing to put the work in; and a diverse roster of artists and events.

‘In A Growing Market, Each Venue Is Finding Its Place & Identity’: Q’s With Lily Fisher, Director, Zénith Paris – La Villette

France boasts one of the greatest venue infrastructures in all of Europe. Among them are the Zénith venues, “Zénith” being the French term to describe a large concert hall. Three of them, Toulouse, Nantes, and Paris, are operated by Colling & Cie, where Lily Fisher is a partner. She is also the director of Zénith Paris – La Villette, and therefore the ideal woman to speak with when trying to gage the state of the French venue circuit.

‘We’re Not Just Promoting, We’re Building Dialogue & Loyalty’: Q’s With Frédéric Longuépée, President, Paris La Défense Arena

Paris La Défense Arena is Europe’s largest indoor stadium. It hosts some of the world’s biggest international tours, domestic superstars, as well as sports, being the home turf for Paris rugby team Racing 92. It’s also been playing a central role as host venue of the Olympic games in Paris last year, which posed unique challenging to booking, the building’s president Frédéric Longuépée talks about in this interview.

He also touches upon the most important questions a venue operator needs to ask him or herself in 2025, Paris La Défense Arenas flexible layout, challenges, opportunities, and more – including how his background as a professional athlete helps him in his day-to-day.

‘Curating Has Become Extremely Important’: Q’s With Arnaud Meersseman, Managing Director, AEG Presents France

Pollstar speaks with Arnaud Meersseman, who oversees the successful business of AEG Presents in France, which includes one of the countries main events, Rock En Seine festival in Paris, as well as a healthy touring business across the circuit, from domestic club level acts to international blockbuster stadium shows.

AEG Presents France already carried its momentum from a record 2024 into an even stronger 2025, and there’s room for growth next year. Operating at that kind of level requires a well-though out business strategy in order to keep up with constanty evolving audience expectations. And while there are certain signs of a market saturation, there remain great opportunities to put on a great show, and Meersseman talks about some of them – and much more – in this interview.

‘Our Biggest Asset Is Our Agility’: Q’s With Clotaire Buche, Co-Founder, Head Of Creative, Junzi Arts

The French business is thriving. There seems to have never been more opportunity to put on a successful show or tour, if you know what you’re doing. The appetite for live experiences among audiences is as great as it’s ever been, not just at the stadium and arena level, but across the circuit.

The team at artist development agency Junzi Arts in Paris knows this. There’s a plethora of niche talent out there that promises to sell tickets for an informed and interested audience, the challenge is finding them and unlocking their potential. Junzi Arts co-founder and head of booking and creative, Clotaire Buche, explains how his team’s long-term artist-focused approach to the business has led to the most successful year in company history.