We knew the international “reserved domain” of the President of the Republic. On the other hand, he was less expected on Culture, especially with a minister – Rachida Dati – rue de Valois who is one of the only headliners of the new government. And yet, an Emmanuel Macron with a tight smile at the window of the Elysée, covered the subject extensively, in an interview published this Wednesday, October 9 by Variety. Libé summarizes the main information to remember from this exchange between the Head of State and the American magazine on several French and international cultural issues.
“Not fair” remuneration for singers
The tenant of the Elysée was particularly critical of the music industry and the world of streaming. The singersdo not receive fair remuneration», Regretted Emmanuel Macron. He denounced the fact that “atoday, with these servicessingers do not receive fair remuneration. In the case of streaming, [les plateformes] decide to pay people who are streamed a lot very well.
Today, a subscriber, who pays for a music streaming platform and does not listen to the most popular musicians, sees most of the cost of his subscription migrate to other artists who are much more listened to. “In the music field, for example, they underestimate various artists who have an average audience, while an artist who is suddenly downloaded by a few young people for a few months will be paid quite well», Regretted the French leader.
Obviously eclectic, Emmanuel Macron would like to “vSee singers like Étienne Daho or Barbara Says earn some money at the same time Taylor Swiftso that it is not one-sided. The streamer model is today biased“. The American megastar has also become the richest musician in the world, according to the ranking published this Wednesday by the economic magazine Forbeswith a fortune estimated at 1.6 billion dollars (or approximately 1.5 billion euros).
Telegram’s new moderation, a “crucial step”
Perhaps the most political subject, and the least in touch with Culture: Emmanuel Macron estimated that the new moderation put in place by the Telegram messaging service, whose Russian boss, Pavel Durov, was arrested and indicted in France in August, constituted “a crucial step”.
If the President of the Republic defended himself from any “political decision» in the legal troubles of the Russian tycoon, he welcomed this “updating the conditions of use and the privacy policy of the platform, with the aim of ensuring that the fundamental rules of public order are respected on the platform».
Pavel Durov «notably announced that he was ready to cooperate with the authorities in the event of illegal activity on the platform, which is a crucial step», added Emmanuel Macron. He also promised at the beginning of September to moderate his messaging “a pride».
Regulation of AI “so that our democracies work”
Also interviewed by Variety on the question of artificial intelligence, the Head of State underlined the potential dangers of this advance. “We can do all sorts of things with AI, but for vulnerable people it can plunge them in depression. It can be a form of harassment», argued Emmanuel Macron.
The president also took the opportunity to plead in favor of regulation, as he had already done by evoking a “model» European to build during a visit to Serbia at the end of August. Artificial intelligence “destabilizes people, it can misinform, which can disrupt our democracies. This is something that needs to be regulated.“, he insisted. “We need to create these regulations for our democracies to work», Finally declared the man who has long been a fervent defender of “tech”.
A “fiercely” battle against the departure of “Emily in Paris” to Rome
During this interview, the President was also questioned about the phenomenon series, Emily in Paris. In response, Emmanuel Macron pleaded for the Netflix series to continue to be filmed in the French capital. For the end of its last season, broadcast a few weeks ago, the heroine of the series leaves Paris to join Rome. An infidelity decried by Emmanuel Macron: “We will fight hard. And we will ask them to stay in Paris! ”Emily in Paris” in Rome makes no sense“, he defended, praising a series “super positive in terms of attractiveness for the country».
And while his wife, Brigitte Macron, made a surprise appearance in a recent episode, the head of state was asked if he had also been offered a role in Emily in Paris. Kicking in touch, Emmanuel Macron simply replied that he is “less attractive than Brigitte”.
