The Grammys aren’t the only ones struggling with diversity. On 11th February, the French counterpart to the Grammys and the Brits, Victoires de la Musique, took place at La Seine Musicale, Paris. The 37th ceremony was under the patronage of the Belgian artist Stromae, who performed his long-awaited comeback song ‘Santé’ as an opener. This energetic performance kickstarted a three-hour long show, filled with performances and victory speeches. The big winners of the night were the singer-songwriter Clara Luciani with her disco album Coeur (receiving two awards) and the rapper Orelsan for his best-selling album Civilisation (receiving three awards).

The success of Orelsan at the Victoires does little to mask the absence of rap and urban music at the ceremony, despite their overwhelming popularity with the young French public. This staggering discrepancy between the number of albums sold and streams and the awards given is evident: Aya Nakamura and SCH weren’t nominated in any category, despite winning the award for ‘Albums with the Highest Streams’ — the only award not to be decided by the voting panel. Well-aware of this fact, SCH made a point of mentioning fellow rappers who “deserve, as much as the artists attending tonight, to celebrate their Victoires.” The removal of the ‘Urban Music’ category in order to stop gatekeeping music genres has had the inverse effect of making the Victoires de la Musique an all-white and French chanson-oriented award ceremony.

This entre-soi can be explained by the voting system, which the slam poet Grand Corps Malade criticised in January; of the 900 jurors, 600 are label executives and music specialists. It’s therefore no surprise that artists managed by these labels are more likely to be nominated and win.

The voting system and category changes have also negatively impacted the rock world, which was solely represented by the poetic rock band Feu!Chatterton, who were nominated for Album of the Year and Male Artist of the Year. The lack of diversity seems to not only be racial but also musical, with an overrepresentation of French-chanson inspired pop.

“The majority of the voters are men who make deals with each other: I vote for your artist, so you vote for mine”

However, the night managed to right some wrongs, notably the lack of parity in the most prestigious category of the night: Album of the Year. This is one of the only non-gendered categories, an issue which was highlighted by the singer Camélia Jordana in 2021. Following the previous ceremony, she discussed the problem in an interview with Liberation, claiming: “the majority of the voters are men… [who] make deals with each other: I vote for your artist, so you vote for mine.” However, this year provided hope for change in the future, as two of the five nominees were women, and Clara Luciani won — the first woman to do so since 1987.

“The critical acclaim of their albums and the quality of their writing is proof that their absence was steeped in misogyny”

Although the awards could still be improved, the performances of the night put the spotlight on a new generation of young female singer-songwriters who are finally challenging the supremacy of men in French chanson. Indeed, the tradition of French chanson has always celebrated singer-songwriters, considered to be the purest form of artistry, and has thus excluded women — who traditionally performed other people’s songs. The critical acclaim of their albums and the quality of their writing is proof that their absence was steeped in misogyny. The work of artists such as Luciani and her contemporaries, Juliette Armanet, Angèle, and Hoshi, serve as tributes to their predecessors who paved the way for female singer-songwriters, (Françoise Hardy, Véronique Sanson and even Barbara). The renewal of French chanson seems to be in the hands of these young and talented women.

The relatively poor performance of the ceremony (16% of French audience share) compared to talent-shows like The Voice (24.3%) is indicative of a shift in public opinion, calling for greater diversity and inclusivity. In my opinion, the options seem obvious: change the categories, or change the eligibility criteria for the judges.