Michael Goldman

Michael Goldman
Michael Goldman
Born	(1979-07-24) 24 July 1979 Paris
Occupation	producer
Known for	My Major Company, Star Academy

Michael Goldman, born on 24 July 1979 in Paris, is a French producer. In 2007, he co-founded the community-based label My Major Company, where he serves as president. He is also the founder of the website Tipeee, launched in 2013.

He is also a lyricist, using the pseudonyms Michel Godebama, Godebama, M. Godebama alternately.

Since 2022, he has been the director of Star Academy on TF1.

Biography

Early Life and Education

Michael Goldman was born on 24 July 1979 in Paris. He is the son of singer Jean-Jacques Goldman and Catherine Morlet, a child psychologist and his first wife. During his childhood, he developed a passion for video games, rap, and electronic music. He attended the École Alsacienne in Paris and earned a baccalauréat in Economics and Social Sciences (ES). He continued his studies by pursuing an economics degree at Panthéon-Assas University, which he abandoned in 1999.

Training

His uncle, Robert Goldman, a producer and composer, helped him get an internship in the artistic direction of the record label BMG. Michael Goldman was hired by the major label as a junior artistic director, where he met Anthony Marciano and Sevan Barsikian. Together, they founded the music publishing company Bamago in 2002.

Career

Since the early 2000s, Michael Goldman has written or co-written several songs under the pseudonym Michel Godebama, including Je me sens vivre by Amel Bent, Petite sœur by Lââm, and Sois beau et tais-toi for Indra. In 2006, artists like Amel Bent, Lââm, and Yannick Noah, who were signed to his company, received gold records. Bamago also produced the stand-up show of comedian Max Boublil.

In 2007, he partnered with Simon Istolainen, a former marketer at Rapp Collins Paris, to create the community music label My Major Company (MMC). In 2008, MMC saw its first success by launching the career of singers Joyce Jonathan and Grégoire. Goldman wrote the songs Fais passer le mot and Te passe pas de moi for Judith, featured on the album Si l'on s'en souvient released in 2011. In 2012, MMC produced Génération Goldman, an album of cover songs by his father, performed by young artists like Zaz, Amel Bent, and M. Pokora. In May 2012, MMC restructured its platform, and in 2016, stopped its crowdfunding activities to focus on producing artists through its participatory music label.

Michael Goldman founded and launched Tipeee on 12 December 2013. In September 2021, he sparked controversy around his platform after making controversial remarks ("I stand by everything on this site, from the most antisemitic to the least antisemitic, and from the most conspiratorial to the least conspiratorial.") during an interview on the program Complément d'enquête on France 2. The interview was conducted because Tipeee had hosted funding for the controversial documentary Hold-up in late 2020. Goldman addressed the controversy in the following weeks, defending freedom of speech and expressing regret over his "clumsy" remarks.

He is the director of the tenth (2022) and eleventh (2023-2024) seasons of Star Academy, aired on TF1 and TFX.

Songs

List of songs written or co-written by Michael Goldman (under the pseudonyms Michel Godebama, Godebama, M. Godebama, M.Godebama):

• Est-ce que tu veux? - Cérena (2004)
• Je me sens vivre - Amel Bent (2004)
• Petite sœur - Lââm (2005)
• Je savais - Pierrick Lilliu (2005)
• Elle - Humphrey (2006)
• Sois beau et tais-toi - Indra (2006)
• Te passe pas de moi - Judith (2010)
• Fais passer le mot - Judith (2010)