Paris (AFP)

Sync? It is the soundtrack of an advertisement, a film, a series or a video game. And for musicians deprived of concerts by the health crisis, a financial windfall and a source of exposure.

Even those who don't know the Naive New Beaters have heard them before. In the jingle of "L'Oeil du 20h" on France 2, in a video game stamped NBA, in an advertisement for a hotel chain or a car. "We have no complex working with a brand, unless it goes against our convictions," said AFP Eurobelix, one of the members of the electro trio. "It is a significant part of our ecosystem".

"In the 1990s, there was 50% of artists refusing to associate their music with an advertisement, today I would say 20%", decrypts for AFP Charles-Henri de Pierrefeu, at Universal. Olivier Lefebvre, at Tbwa / Else, interface agency, reports to AFP a rejection of Brian May, guitarist-co-founder of Queen "because he did not need money: that forced us to transform the constraint into creativity and we found something else that works better. "

"But as a general rule, the artists have become pragmatic, the fans do not find much to complain about, it has become a part of everyday life, and since the record crisis, it has been a boost, it oiled the cogs, "adds Charles-Henri de Pierrefeu, memory of the sector.

- "Virtuous circle" -

An example of a big budget? Between "1.5 and 2 million euros, a global campaign, a luxury brand, all media, spread over two years", sum to distribute, to schematize, between authors and producers.

Same memory at the top of the scale - "between 500,000 and 1 million euros per type of rights" - for Aurélien Viot, at Because. "For a standard in France, it's between 100,000 and 150,000 euros, all inclusive," says Charles-Henri de Pierrefeu. "For a young start-up group, the overall rate is between 30,000 and 50,000. Today, the hierarchy has changed a little, music in a very good series can be more beneficial than advertising for a virtuous circle".

Netflix is ​​a big consumer. Lionel Liminana - brain, beard and guitar of rock bands like Liminanas and L'Epée - co-composed the soundtrack for the feature film "The Last Days Of American Crime", recently released on the platform. For those who "always dreamed of making film music", as he slips to AFP, were chained "phone call from the record company", "reading the original comics on the train" and meeting with the director Olivier Megaton, "become a friend".

- "Sound libraries" -

What are the circuits of synchro? When Charles-Henri de Pierrefeu started in the early 1990s, he was "a little lonely". But since the 2000s, all the record companies and all the labels have gotten into it.

With roughly three branches: the catalog - songs already on the market, the music library - titles not sold - and the original composition. Among other things, Aurélien Viot set out to develop the second service at Because. "I ask all our artists to make songs, which enter a database accessible to customers. Previously, it was judged as" music by the meter "," elevator music ", but for a few years now, there is quality, "he explains to AFP.

"Now, the sound libraries are well made and inexpensive," agrees with AFP Pierre Colleu, of Bpc Studio, specializing in film music, which is undergoing this competition.

Octave Noire, electro artist, had the good surprise to see a "music made 7-8 years ago", as he narrates it to AFP, spotted recently via a search grid for the series "Miracle Workers" on Netflix. In 2019, synchronization represented in France a turnover of 23 million euros, with an increase of 4.5%.

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