Emmanuel Macron evokes a tax on streaming to support the music industry

2023-06-21 22:53:00

The government plans to propose a tax on streaming revenues, the head of state announced on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Music Festival.

By VD with AFP The President of the Republic hosted a concert at the Élysée, on the occasion of the music festival. © CHRISTOPHE ENA / POOL / AFP Published on 06/21/2023 at 10:53 p.m.

In the absence of an agreement between players in the music industry to find new sources of funding, the government plans to propose a tax on streaming revenues, Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Music Festival. The Head of State asked the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul-Malak to bring together “without delay all the actors in the sector”, writes the Elysée in a press release.

If there is no agreement by September 30, “the government will reserve the possibility of seizing Parliament with a mandatory contribution from streaming platforms”, it is added. The presidency is based on a report by Senator Julien Bargeton (Renaissance), delivered in April. The latter recommends a tax of 1.75% on income from paid music streaming and free music streaming financed by advertising.

“A measure of justice”

New sources of funding are necessary to “preserve French cultural sovereignty” and ensure “fair remuneration for artists and creators”, underlined the Elysée on Wednesday, also wishing that this manna support innovation and export. Former Minister of Culture Jack Lang quickly welcomed, in a press release sent to AFP, the idea of ​​such a tax, “a measure of justice that will consolidate musical diversity and strengthen creators and independent musicians.

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In the fall of 2022, the debates crystallized on a mandatory contribution of 1.5% of income from paid subscriptions on music platforms to help the National Music Center (CNM), a state and sectoral body created in 2020, to support French creation. This suggestion – carried by deputies from the Nupes left via amendments rejected at the end of 2022 – had created open fractures in the sector.

Several organizations representing the music industry (Prodiss, UPFI, SMA, etc.) said they were in favor of such a low tax “which could be enough to complete the CNM financing scheme without disrupting economic models”. . “No to the streaming tax. Anti-rap tax. Racist tax. Tax not justified ”, had on the other hand denounced on his social networks the rapper Niska, calculating that the income from the streaming of rap, music dominant in the charts, would thus be taxed. The SNEP (National Union of Phonographic Publishing) had also castigated the idea of ​​a tax.