[1] Born into a Sephardic Jewish family, his parents were Jacques Elias (Elieser) and Mathilde (Mazal) (née Arditti) Canetti.

[3] During World War II, Canetti worked in Algiers for Radio-France Alger, and established a theatre with Françoise Rosay and Pierre Dac.

After World War II, he became artistic director at Polydor, and in 1947, he opened the Théâtre des Trois Baudets in the Pigalle district in Paris.

This venue hosted a great number of famous French performers, including Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Guy Béart, Serge Gainsbourg, Francis Lemarque, Félix Leclerc, and Juliette Gréco, and served as an artistic testing ground for potential recording artists of interest to Canetti.

In 1978, Canetti published his memoir, On cherche jeune homme aimant la musique, whose title derived from a job advertisement from Polydor which read "Cherche jeune homme aimant la musique et parlant couramment allemand" ("Seeking young man who loves music and speaks fluent German").