2023-12-13 21:07:32
The government announced on Wednesday December 13 the implementation from 2024 of a tax on the turnover of online music listening platforms, wanted by Emmanuel Macron and the principle of which divides the sector.
This obligatory contribution, which must finance the sector, will be “based on a very low levy rate on platform turnover” streaming platforms concerned, indicated the Ministry of Culture.
The exact terms of the tax have not yet been revealed, nor the annual amount that it should bring in, and which should finance the sector. The question of a streaming tax has divided the French music industry for more than a year. It has already been the subject of a positive vote in the Senate in November, during the examination of the 2024 draft budget.
Platforms fight measurement
Six industry organizations welcomed the Senate vote at the end of November, while platforms like Deezer and number one Spotify are fighting this measure, a “new production tax”according to them. “After government arbitration, the finance bill for 2024 will confirm the creation of a contribution from streaming platforms”specified the ministry.
Objective: finance the National Music Center (CNM), a body created in 2020, to support the French music industry, like the CNC for cinema, but which has so far been mainly financed by performing arts companies .
On June 21, the day of the Music Festival, Emmanuel Macron raised the prospect of a tax on streaming revenues if the music industry did not agree on new ways of financing creation, and had posed the September 30, 2023 as the deadline.
A senatorial report
The presidency relied on a report from Senator Julien Bargeton (Renaissance), delivered in April. The latter recommended a tax of 1.75% on revenue from paid music streaming and free music streaming financed by advertising. In the fall of 2022, the debates focused on a mandatory contribution of 1.5% of revenue from paid subscriptions on music platforms.
Opponents of the tax for their part pleaded for a voluntary contribution, affirming again on Wednesday in a joint press release that they had reached an agreement, bringing together Apple, Deezer, Meta, Spotify, YouTube and TikTok, to mobilize “more than 14 million euros” in 2025.
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