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 advocates a tax of 1.75% on income from paid music streaming and free music streaming funded by advertising.
New sources of funding are needed to “preserve French cultural sovereignty” and ensure “fair remuneration for artists and creators”, the Elysée stressed on Wednesday, also wishing that this windfall support innovation and export. Former Culture Minister Jack Lang quickly welcomed, in a press release sent to AFP, the idea of such a tax, “a measure of justice that will strengthen musical diversity and strengthen creators and independent musicians”.
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 – brought forward by leftist Nupes deputies via amendments rejected at the end of 2022 – had created open fractures in the sector.
Several representative bodies of the music industry (Prodiss, UPFI, SMA, etc.) had expressed their support for such a low tax “which could be sufficient to complete the CNM financing scheme without disrupting economic models”. . “No to the streaming tax. Anti-rap tax. Racist tax. Tax not justified “, on the other hand, had denounced on his social networks the rapper Niska, calculating that the income from the streaming of rap, music dominant in the charts, would be taxed in this way. The Snep (National Union of Phonographic Publishing) had also castigated the idea of a tax.