ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the history of the recording industry in France, particularly concerning the period covering the arrival of rock 'n' roll and its development within variety music. When it comes to France, the first forms of rock 'n' roll were incorporated by the major labels and large independent labels into the modes of production and distribution, which had already been tested by variety music. The evolution of the record industry into a mass market at this time was not only related to the development of a new musical culture, which corresponded to the youth of the 1960s. The chapter summarises the research carried out relies on various data obtained from unpublished archives held by the main French recording industry association. In order to understand the specificity of popular music "made in France," the chapter shows that a certain sense of linearity exists in the history of the French record industry.
