Macron's government announced the tax on 13 December after a Senate vote in November.
ADVERTISEMENTSpotify has pulled out of two French music festivals following the announcement of an increased tax measure on music streaming platforms in the country.
The Swedish music streaming company has said it will no longer support the Francofolies de La Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges festivals from 2024 onwards due to the new tax law.
Spotify campaigned for a voluntary contribution instead of the tax. Last week, France’s President Emmanuel Macron announced that the country would tax streamers “based on a very low rate of levy on the turnover of the streaming platforms.”
Proposed earlier this year, Spotify and other music streaming platforms opposed the potential tax that has been suggested to run somewhere between 1.75 and 1.5%.
The Ministry of Culture has since confirmed the tax contribution will be “at a rate of 1.2% of their turnover achieved in France” and platforms with a turnover of less than €20 million will be exempt.
This announcement was welcomed in particular by the Union of Independent French Phonographic Producers (UPFI), the Union of Current Music (SMA) and the National Union of Musical and Variety Shows (PRODISS) in a joint press release. The Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem) also welcomed this tax.
“This is a real blow to innovation, and to the growth prospects of recorded music in France. We are evaluating the follow-up to be given to the implementation of this inequitable, unjust and disproportionate measure,” a Spotify spokesperson told AFP last week.
Opponents of the tax for their part pleaded for a voluntary contribution, further asserting on December 13 in a joint press release that they had reached an agreement, bringing together Apple, Deezer, Meta, Spotify , YouTube and TikTok, to mobilise “more than 14 million euros” in 2025.
Spotify has also said that “other announcements will follow in 2024” regarding their reaction to the tax law.
