Warner Music France chief Alain Veille has been elected to lead SNEP as the French recorded music group sharpens its focus on AI, streaming and IP protection.
Alain Veille has been elected president of SNEP, the French recorded music trade body, taking over from Bertrand Burgalat after three terms in the role.
Veille, who is president of Warner Music France, now steps into a post that carries real weight in France’s music policy debates. SNEP represents more than 250 members, from major companies to independent labels, and serves as the sector’s main voice with public authorities on economic, cultural and regulatory issues.
AI, streaming and chart manipulation move to the top of the agenda
The new mandate lands at a moment when the recorded music business is being pulled in several directions at once. Artificial intelligence is changing how music is created and distributed. Streaming economics continue to shift. Public debate around cultural sovereignty, musical diversity and intellectual property is getting louder.
SNEP said its priorities will include protecting intellectual property and human creativity as AI systems develop, including support for Senator Laure Darcos’s proposed legislation on the use of works by AI systems. The group also plans to push for a stronger subscription-based streaming model, combat stream and chart manipulation, and defend the diversity of French music production at home and abroad.
That mix of issues is familiar to anyone who has spent years in the business. The pressure points are not abstract. They affect investment, catalog value, artist development and the terms under which labels and producers operate.
Veille inherits a larger, more visible trade body
In his statement, Veille framed the job as one of keeping the recording industry present in the decisions that shape it.
“Music remains an industry in which innovation, risk-taking and investment are closely intertwined,” he said. “In the years ahead, our responsibility will be to ensure that the voice of the recording industry is heard in the major decisions affecting our profession, while continuing to defend what makes music so rich: the diversity of artists, repertoires and business models.”
He also said he intends to build on Burgalat’s work and continue the group’s engagement with French and European public authorities.
Burgalat, who had led SNEP since 2020, said he would not seek another term. He pointed to the organization’s growth over the years, saying membership has increased sixfold in ten years and now stands at 93% of the French recorded music industry.
He also said the group’s relationships with other music professions and with the CNM had helped reinforce its position. Burgalat described SNEP’s work as serving the interests of the most vulnerable structures as well as the sector as a whole.
Continuity at the top, with a broader board behind it
Alexandre Lasch, managing director of SNEP, thanked Burgalat for his six years as president and said Veille’s appointment opens “a new chapter in this continuity.”
The new board includes Yacine Bouzidi, founder and managing director of Antipodes Music, who has been elected vice-president, along with Isabel Dacheux, CEO of Scherzo Production; Matéo, president of Only Pro; Olivier Nusse, president of Universal Music France; and Marie-Anne Robert, president of Sony Music Entertainment France.
SNEP has also invited four members to take part in the board’s work: Laurent Didailler of PIAS France, Julie Estardy of Studio CBE, Benjamin Galouye of B1 France and Marion Gargula of BMG France.
For France’s recorded music sector, the leadership change keeps the same basic equation in place: a larger, more representative trade body trying to hold its ground as AI, streaming and rights enforcement reshape the business around it.
