The Rodia

What The Rodia does

La Rodia is a French public cultural establishment (Établissement public local à caractère industriel ou commercial) operating as a SMAC (Scène de Musiques Actuelles) in Besançon. It runs two live performance spaces — Grande Salle and Club — and hosts a continuous program of concerts, conferences, and cultural events. The venue generates revenue through ticket sales (€6–€30 per ticket, with Carte Rodia membership discounts), on-site bar and catering services, and substantial public subsidies from municipal, departmental, regional, and national cultural authorities. Tickets are distributed via SoTicket (since 2025), legacy SeeTickets, physical box office, and authorized resale through Reelax Tickets.

Beyond its core venue function, La Rodia operates an extensive portfolio of cultural mediation and artist-development programs. These include Festival Détonation (an annual festival that drew 6,000 spectators at its 10th edition), Musiciennes-MAB (a program supporting female artists and gender minorities with three artist teams per season), Rodiathèques (over 250 conference topics since 2015), Ma Saison à La Rodia (a university student immersion program serving ~20 students per academic year with Université Marie & Louis Pasteur), Opération Iceberg (a Franco-Swiss artist residency in partnership with Eurockéennes de Belfort and CMA Foundation), Panopli (artist-services platform with Le Bastion), and Bezac City Rockers (local band touring initiative). Cultural action activities engage approximately 4,000 participants annually across 25 projects under the cultural mediation department.

The organization is led by Director David Demange, with functional teams covering cultural mediation (Nicolas Sauvage), artistic support (Sylvain Bombled), ticketing and contracts (Albine), bar operations (Sonia), and cultural action (Philippe). Marketing relies on the larodia.com website, Arenametrix-powered email newsletters, social media, two podcast productions (Line Up with Radio Campus Besançon; Mission Metal with Mission Locale), earned media in local press (Diversions), and community event programming. The business model is fundamentally subsidy-anchored rather than market-anchored, with ticket and ancillary revenues supplementing public funding rather than driving standalone profitability.

Name

The Rodia

Legal name

LA RODIA

Website

https://larodia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

La Rodia is a publicly-funded French SMAC live music venue in Besançon operating two performance spaces (Grande Salle and Club) for concerts, cultural mediation, and artist development. It serves regional concert-goers, university students, school children, elderly residents, and emerging musicians across Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music Venue

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Venues & Venue Operators (Clubs, Theaters, Arenas) (MPAIAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Live Music Clubs & Venues (MPAGAIAB), Live Music Venues & Concert Bars (THAFAEAD)

Keywords

• Live music venue
• Concert programming
• Cultural mediation
• Artist development
• Music education

Headquarters

HQ city

Besançon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Concert ticket sales: Primary revenue stream from ticket sales for concerts and events in Grande Salle and Club venues. Ticket prices range from 6€ to 30€ with discounts for Carte Rodia holders.
2. Bar and catering services: On-site bar service operated by staff, with the 4x8 snack area offering food and beverages during events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

La Rodia is a French SMAC (Centre for Contemporary Music) operating two performance spaces in Besançon — a Club (190 capacity) and a Grande Salle (650 capacity) — hosting concerts across contemporary genres. Beyond ticketed concerts, it delivers artist development programs (Opération Iceberg, Panopli), cultural mediation (Rodiathèques, Ma Saison à La Rodia), music education (Musiciennes-MAB, Peace & Lobe), and an annual festival (Détonation). The venue serves individual concert-goers, students, school groups, emerging artists, and seniors in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

Product overview

La Rodia is a concert venue and current music center (SMAC) in Besançon, France, operating as a single unified venue rather than a platform architecture. The venue offers concert programming across two main spaces (Club and Grande Salle), manages the annual Détonation festival, and provides artistic accompaniment programs including residences, Panopli, Musiciennes-MAB, Bezac City Rockers, and Opération Iceberg. Additional offerings include cultural action and mediation services such as Rodiathèques (educational conferences), Ma Saison à La Rodia (student immersion program), and Line Up podcast produced in partnership with Radio Campus Besançon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 6,000 spectators attended the 10th edition of Festival Détonation over two evenings
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Radio Campus BesançoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 February 2026Local university radio station partnering on Line Up podcast about music and pop culture.
• Reelax TicketsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 21 November 2022Official authorized ticket resale platform to combat fraudulent resale, the only approved resale partner.
• Grand BesançoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal authority and primary funder of La Rodia as a public cultural establishment. Part of the venue's institutional ecosystem with logo displayed on website.
• CNM (Centre National de la Musique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational music center supporting Musiciennes-MAB program and various cultural initiatives.
• Ville de BesançoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Besançon as primary municipal partner and supporter of La Rodia's cultural mission.
• SACEMcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench music copyright society supporting Fabrique à Chanson program and various artistic projects.
• Région Bourgogne-Franche-ComtécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional council supporting La Rodia's cultural programs and artist development initiatives.
• DRAC Bourgogne-Franche-ComtécoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional cultural affairs directorate supporting territorial residencies and cultural projects.
• Département du DoubsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDepartmental council supporting regional cultural initiatives.
• Crédit MutuelminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor appearing in venue's partner ecosystem, associated with Les iNOUÏS du Printemps de Bourges.
• SEETICKETS (formerly DIGITICK)coreTechnology or IntegrationTicketing platform for online ticket sales and event management. Handles personal data collection for ticket purchases.
• Le BastioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCultural venue in Besançon co-organizing Musiciennes-MAB program and Panopli artist support platform.
• Mazette!minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Musiciennes-MAB program supporting female artists and gender minorities.
• Médiathèque Départementale du DoubscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDepartmental media library partnership for Rodiathèques conferences and cultural mediation.
• Eurockéennes de BelfortcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFestival organizers initiating Operation Iceberg, a Franco-Swiss artist support program.
• CMA Foundation (Switzerland)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss foundation co-initiating Operation Iceberg artist development program.
• FEDELIMAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Federation of Contemporary Music Venues, of which La Rodia is a member SMAC.
• Université Marie & Louis PasteurcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal university partnering on Ma Saison à La Rodia student immersion program.
• JM FranceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJeunesses Musicales France supporting Musiques Actuelles au Lycée program.
• FEMAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFédération des Établissements de Musiques Associatives supporting Peace & Lobe hearing awareness program.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• La Vapeur: SMAC venue in Dijon offering concerts, artist residencies, and cultural mediation. Comparable in mission, public-establishment funding model, and programming scope to La Rodia.
• Le Trabendo: Paris live music venue with multi-genre programming and cultural mediation programs. Comparable as a SMAC with similar public-sector support and educational outreach.
• La Maroquinerie: Paris concert venue hosting emerging and established artists. Comparable in live music programming focus and ticketing-driven revenue, though operating in a larger urban market.
• Le Rocher de Palmer: SMAC venue near Bordeaux with multi-space concert programming, artist residencies, and cultural action programs. Directly comparable as a publicly funded contemporary music center of similar scale.
• Eurockéennes de Belfort: Major French music festival and partner of La Rodia on Opération Iceberg. Comparable as a publicly supported live music operator in the same Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region with overlapping artist pipelines.
• La Coopérative de Mai: Concert venue and SMAC in Clermont-Ferrand offering diverse programming and artist support. Comparable public-backed live music operator with multiple performance spaces.
• Le Printemps de Bourges: Long-running French music festival with iNOUÏS artist discovery program that La Rodia historically helped coordinate regionally. Comparable as a publicly supported festival operator with artist-development programs.
• Le Bastion: Cultural venue in Besançon co-organizing Musiciennes-MAB and Panopli with La Rodia. Direct local peer sharing programming infrastructure and artist-support resources.
• Le Ferrailleur: Nantes-based live music venue hosting concerts across genres with bar services. Comparable in club/live-venue format and ticketing revenue model.

Regional players

• Le Moloco: SMAC concert venue also located in the Besançon/Bourgogne-Franche-Comté area. Directly comparable as a public-backed live music venue with similar artist-support programs (now handling the iNOUÏS Franche-Comté antenna).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LaRodiaBesancon
• Facebookfacebook.com/larodiasmac

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Rodia