It’s a blemish on what was thought to be a flawless success story. While Duchess has established itself as a pillar of the new French music scene, an investigation published by our colleagues at StreetPress paints a much less shiny picture behind the scenes. Several people describe a constant pressure and questionable management methods. For Léo Chatelier, the head of the company, it was time to provide details on the genesis of his company and to take responsibility.
“I started from nothing”: for Léo Chatelier, how far can improvisation go?
In a written response sent to Public’s editorial staff, Léo Chatelier does not seek to deny all the facts, while adding important nuances. He first points out that he built Duchess as a self-taught person, starting from scratch without any initial financial resources. “I did my best with passion. I am a trained musician,” he recalls, acknowledging that he had to learn accounting and human resources without a safety net. This forced improvisation, coupled with an original team made up of friends, allegedly led to a harmful confusion between the professional framework and the friendly sphere.
This closeness, while it helped launch rapid careers, also showed its limits once success arrived. The founder admits that the mix of genres could have caused tensions that he was not prepared to handle. “I did not always know how to manage the pressure, and I deeply regret that it may have hurt within our early teams,” he confesses.
“An evolving era”: Léo Chatelier’s strategy to turn the page
To address criticisms of internal dysfunctions, Léo Chatelier highlights the structural transformation that has taken place in recent years. According to him, the testimonies cited concern a bygone era, the beginnings when the organization lacked structure. As soon as the label’s cash flow allowed it, the management claims to have hired senior profiles to stabilize the company. The arrival of an administrator, marketing directors, and a dedicated associate in pure management aims precisely to prevent such situations from happening again. “The issue is taken particularly seriously within the team,” he writes to Public’s editorial team.
While the boss admits to mistakes and clumsiness in his initial management, he is banking on this new organization to protect his employees as well as his artists. The question remains whether these apologies and structural changes will be enough to appease former team members, marked by their time at the label. A crucial turning point for the image of the company that manages the interests of the new darling of the French.
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