French-produced artists have been popping up in festivals all over North America in the last month, with four artists performing at the Canadian Music Week in Toronto, Ontario and eight at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Canadian Music Week (Toronto, Ontario - March 1/4, 2006)

The French Music Export Office attended the Canadian Music Week in Toronto for the 2nd year in a row. Four French-produced artists showcased during the conference : lunar accordionist Nano’s performance was more than noticed by the audience and the professionals, Troy Von Balthazar and Punish Yourself put on a great show, and Trik’s exuberant set seduced Toronto’s attendance.

South by Southwest «SXSW» (Austin, Texas - March 15/19, 2006)

Following last year’s successful initiative "Buy French, It’s America", the French labels and the French Music Export Office once again joined forces to allow eight bands to perform at the 20th edition of South By Southwest.

The team of New York’s FMEO gave away its promo material to a very large number of North American professionals and initiated numerous contacts thanks to its presence on the European Music Office booth hosted by the following members: Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg. This common initiative proved to be extremely beneficial, bringing increased visibility to the European actors of musical export and allowing them to communicate their actions to the North American professionals.

The climax of this joint operation was the European showcase that took place at Spiro’s on Thursday, March 16: twelve bands, including four French produced acts, shared the two stages of the venue from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Music insiders and the local audience were able to (re)discover and enjoy Poni Hoax’s goofy pop/electro, Zenzile’s 100% made in France dub, Grand National’s sweet/sour rock and Syd Matters’ harmonious pop. Among the other French produced artists’ showcases, Piers Faccini and Tio Manuel had noticeable performances, while TTC (part of a Ninja Tune showcase) and Birdy Nam Nam confirmed that hip-hop has a role to play in this pop/rock-oriented festival (a fact already underlined by Daara J’s groundbreaking performance last year).