Paris (AFP)

"I'm making a place of freedom", launches to AFP Pascal Obispo, who breaks ties with the record companies and embarks on board his platform, to directly reach the public, without constraint in his choices.

"I don't see what use a record company ... to limit myself by telling myself that you have to release an album every two and a half years? It's an insult to music and creativity", establishes the artist, who launched last Friday, his 56th birthday, his interface "Obispo All Access".

The price of a concert ticket covers one year of subscription for the new features presented on this application available on Apple Store and Google Play.

Every Friday, content is uploaded.

Obispo has prepared a solid stock of unreleased material to sell and already "planned over two years" the planned projects.

A multitude of formats are on the program, between lives never broadcast, documentaries, clips, animated films, comics, masterclasses, etc.

New songs or albums are also on the menu.

Obispo, who wanted to be "master of the boat, free in tempo and eclecticism" will thus sound jazz or reggae, among others, over the crews recruited for the odyssey.

- "Field of possibilities" -

"The idea was to withdraw (from the classic model with a record company) to open up the field of possibilities", he continues.

The death of singer Christophe last year, to which he was close, prompted him to "accelerate the project": "life is so short".

"Christophe, I had him listen to electro songs and I had shown him the ergonomics of the platform, he thought it was fantastic, he could only love it, he has always been independent".

Coming back to the entry fee, Obispo denies "any financial transaction, as the + haters + say (criticism on social networks)".

"I put all my money in there, if I wanted to earn money, I would not have done like that, I made myself a place of freedom", insists the author of the tube "Lucie".

"But I'm not a multinational, if I have to stop because it doesn't work enough, at worst, I can make an album on my own, because I can play all the instruments (laughs)".

- "Faster" -

"The (streaming) platforms have given the illusion of free music, but it is not, I make musicians, technicians, mixers, engineers, graphic designers, etc. work ten times more people than a record company (laughs) ".

"The record companies have interns, I work with full-time professionals. Who need to be paid, we have seen it in this period of pandemic".

When we discover "Obispo All Access", we cannot help but think back to the unexpected speech of Florent Pagny during the last Victoires de la Musique, of which he was honorary president.

Tracing the evolution of the music industry, Pagny reviewed the invention of the CD, the furtive appearance of MP3, the domination of streaming before delivering his "vision": a future where each artist would be in direct contact with the public and would have its platform to broadcast its productions.

But Pagny had concluded with a little note for the people of the trade who were starting to fidget in their seats: "Don't worry, record companies, we will always need to be accompanied ...".

"I told him + at the end, you screwed up a bit (laughs) +, says Obispo. I no longer need the record companies, I had a good time with them, but I'm going faster than them ".

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