Joséphine Prize: interview with Christophe Palatre and Frédéric Junqua

On the occasion of the first edition of the Prix Joséphine des artistes, we met its founders, Christophe Palatre and Frédéric Junqua. While the French musical landscape is experiencing a revitalization of its currents, we discussed the stakes of this prize at a time when the country's musical artistic creation is in full profusion and the limits of the genre tend to redefine themselves. There is a revival in the world of music prizes where certain prizes have been announced (such as the Flammes ceremony[1]): why is a prize like the Prix Joséphine necessary today? Frédéric Junqua: We have identified a lack in music awards, where some are media prizes or professional awards. For us, we wanted to make a prize that was very open, that goes beyond musical boundaries, and that does not bother with constraints or overly complicated registration rules. And above all, we wanted to echo the current momentum that there is in music production in France, with artists who mix, who mix styles and sounds, things that are not necessarily perceived by the public. What was important was to restore the reality of French production which is very eclectic with a new generation of artists who do not hesitate to mix acoustic and electronic, instrumental and vocal, etc., and which is very adventurous.   What does the name Josephine refer to? Christophe Palatre: The name is a kind of sympathetic nod to Joséphine Baker for her cultural mix and artistic audacity. It is also a reference to Alain Bashung who, for us, is one of the most emblematic artists of the French culture and music scene.   With regard to the price, we note that two points are highlighted: the independence and transparency of the selection processes. Christophe Palatre: It's true that the prize has as partners organizations such as the CNM, SACEM or ADAMI that embrace all musical trends and are not involved in the production of albums. In this sense, there is a desire for independence so that the results are those of the selection committee and the jury of artists, and not those of a corporation or a trade. Regarding transparency, we think it's important to explain to the public why we arrived at this list* and to be clear about the conditions of registration, participation, but also vis-à-vis those who make the selection of the forty albums, those who choose the list and finally the ultimate winner. We know that most of the prizes are closely linked to labels or media (such as the NRJ Music Awards). What does this imply regarding the representativeness of artists and their works in the French musical landscape today? Frédéric Junqua: I think that to answer this question, it is interesting to go back to our own selection process. We had several sources of inspiration, one of them being the Mercury Prize[2] in England. The purpose of this award is to say that albums are highlighted by the quality of musical production. Basically, the music is in the album. There are therefore no issues of notoriety of the artists, nor of knowing if it is a first album or not. In fact, the idea was first that the registration procedures should be as open as possible. We were also inspired by prizes from literature, such as the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Fémina, or from cinema where the great model remains the Cannes Film Festival. In these cases, artists and authors themselves are asked to select and judge works. The only distinction we made was that we organized the Prix Joséphine in two stages: first, by asking journalists from different generations and with their knowledge of the different music scenes, to make a first selection by choosing forty albums from the more than three hundred albums entered. Then, the jury of artists was asked to define a list of ten albums among the forty. In this way, we give the floor to the artists in the final phase and therefore we give them back this choice, but at the same time we clear the ground a little by indicating them and going to see in all the musical genres that are produced today in France, those that seemed to be on the selection committee the forty albums of the year.   You have called on specialized journalists, how do we manage to get them to exchange on albums from genres with which they are not necessarily familiar? Christophe Palatre: We first chose these journalists on the basis of their backgrounds and also through the discussions we had with them. We did not want people who were the expression of a chapel, but who were motivated above all by their common passion for music. In addition, today musical forms as we know them are in more and more hybrid forms, so we wanted to reflect what music lovers prefer, that is to say musical forms that are mixed and that mix currents that are not just the emanation of a predominant genre. Frédéric Junqua: We also put online interviews and testimonies of the committee of journalists and they were quite unanimous in saying that they arrived with albums that they wanted to see integrated into the selection, and what interested them was the exchange and dialogue with others that took them a little out of their line and the albums they were used to. Here, they had no obligation in relation to their original media, they were just there to share their album analyses. The fact that the price gives them a space to exchange that they liked.   We feel that journalists and the artists' committee have a large share of freedom to make their choice. How do you see your role? How do you supervise the organization of the prize? Do you have any particular expectations? Christophe Palatre: Our expectations correspond to the values we want to defend, in particular the founding value of the prize: diversity. We wanted a prize that shows and expresses the diversity of the French music scene. Too often in prices, things are reduced to stories of notoriety. What interested us was to put our finger on the representativeness of all the artists who come from different regions, labels or structures, in order to realize that the French musical wealth is wide and multiple. In the way we chose the members of the selection committee and the artists' jury, we made sure that all musical currents were represented. Our role has been to bring together personalities and talents by telling them "what we want is as much diversity as possible" because today, we think that a music lover can listen to an album of songs, as well as a hip hop album, as tomorrow a jazz album. Finally, isn't the purpose of the prize to accompany music listeners to open up to other trends? Frédéric Junqua: Absolutely. We also had very positive feedback on the selection and we decided to continue to highlight it on our site* and on our networks because we realized that it had a value in itself, and that the list was ultimately only a condensation of the selection, but that the latter was already interesting to offer to the public of the prize. The price is an itinerary, it's not just an evening. What we wanted to do was to set up a series of appointments with registrations, selection, winners and the ceremony at the beginning of the school year. Over time, we try to make people keep all these albums in mind.   Content around the prize is shared and will continue to be broadcast throughout the summer to better discover the albums: what can we expect? Christophe Palatre: The prize and its timeliness are expressed over a period of three months and not just for a ceremony one evening. During the summer, our challenge is to make the music-loving public want to discover the albums on the chart. For that, we actually created content around the juries where they express their points of view, why they chose this or that album, how they selected them, etc. We have just finished a series of interviews with the artists of the chart where each one introduces himself, each explains how he made his album, from the recording phase to the realization of the cover. These are short and ergonomic formats for digital because we think that the aspects of conversation and exchanges today are largely on the networks and that the summer period is conducive to go foraging for information and want to listen to albums. We are also doing a podcast where there will be a listening part of songs and an editorialized part to explain why Koki Nakano's album is next to Laurent Bardainne's or Orelsan's. These are communication support tools that should normally help to make you want to know a little more about the artists on the list. Frédéric Junqua: In addition to all that, there will be other events in September. We hope to organize one or two masterclasses to explain how some albums were designed with the participation of the artist but also his creative teams to highlight the shadow professions such as mixers, beatmakers, artistic directors, etc. Finally, during the ceremony scheduled for September 23, there will be the opportunity to see all the artists on stage . What do you hope for the future? What do you want people to remember from the Josephine Prize? Frédéric Junqua: The first thing is already that the prize becomes a snapshot of the best that music production has to offer each year, and that it gradually becomes in people's minds a form of quality label and recommendation, that they know that when they go into the world of the Prix Joséphine, they will both discover new artists and listen to the important albums of the year. Christophe Palatre: We want the prize to have a recommendatory value with a list of works recommended by the artists themselves that must be listened to during the year when you are interested in music a little or a lot. Frédéric Junqua: Ideally, we want him, in labels and among artists, to be received as an exhibition relay for albums that may have gone a little under the radar because he has been selected or chosen in the charts, and that this can bring him new exposure. That would really be the best reward.   Find the 2022 selection and winners on the Prix Joséphine website, all the video series on the Prize's Youtube channel, as well as all the news of the prize on its social networks:

• Instagram: @prixjosephine
• Twitter: @prixjosephine
• Facebook: Joséphine des Artistes Award
• LinkedIn: Joséphine des Artistes Award

  [1 ] The Flames is a ceremony celebrating popular culture organized by Yard, Booska-P and Smile, and whose first edition is scheduled for 2023 [2] The Mercury Prize is an annual award that recognizes the best British or Irish album of the last twelve months. Created in 1992, it is an alternative to the Brit Awards.