The Prix des Voix Neuves, a Paris competition for new albums, froze its cash award on Wednesday after concluding that parts of Nilo Varenne’s winning record, Le Dernier Étage, appear to imitate Pellerin’s voice. The decision came 12 days after the album won the contest, which is broadcast online and draws entries from across France.
The contest’s rules require artists to identify synthetic vocals and secure permission for any recognisable voice used. Judges had been told Varenne’s vocals were his own, according to director Aaron Souza. The prize money has not been paid, and the album has been removed from the contest’s streaming page.
The dispute began during the final on 17 October, when runner-up Arianna Conn-Lehner asked the panel to compare a chorus in Varenne’s song with Pellerin’s archived interviews. “The phrasing and the breath at the end of each line were not a coincidence,” Conn-Lehner said in an interview. Her challenge prompted the panel to order an audio examination.
The voice in the chorus
Audio specialist Nik J. Bezjak compared the album with five digitised interviews and two spoken-word recordings of Pellerin. His report, commissioned by the contest, found “strong evidence of voice synthesis” and repeated matches in vowel shape and cadence. Bezjak cautioned that the analysis could identify a likely source, but could not establish who supplied the recordings or whether they had been licensed.
Pellerin, a French screen actor who also released spoken-word records, died in 2021. His estate says it never authorised the use of his voice in the album. “Those recordings were made for specific productions and interviews, not to become a singer’s raw material,” said Nancy Moreau, the estate’s representative. She said the family would seek a meeting with the contest and Varenne’s distributor.
If the voice belongs to someone who never agreed to sing, the prize cannot pretend it is just another production trick.
Nancy Moreau, representative for Marius Pellerin’s estate
The contest has suspended Varenne’s title while a three-member panel checks the entry forms, audio and licensing claims. “We were given a signed declaration that every voice was either original or cleared,” Souza said. “That declaration is now under review, and the award remains on hold.” The contest has not announced when it will reach a final decision.
Prize and rights in question
Varenne said in a written response that he bought an archive package from a French audio supplier and believed its voices had been cleared for commercial use. He said he did not intend to present Pellerin as a living performer. The supplier has not publicly commented, and its name was not included in the contest’s announcement.
The album’s distributor has paused new promotional placements while it checks the source material. If the prize is withdrawn, the contest says it will consider whether to award the title to Conn-Lehner or leave this year’s winner unfilled. For artists, the case could set a costly precedent: the prize’s contract makes the winning act responsible for proving that every identifiable voice on an album was used with permission.
