Spotify has revealed plans to increase subscription fees in France, in response to a new tax directed at music-streaming services operating in the country.
While all the impacted companies are opposing the new law, Spotify has been the most vociferous, largely due to the fact it is the biggest player in the country.
The company wrote in a blog post today:“With the creation of this new tax, Spotify would be required to give approximately two-thirds of every euro it generates to music to rights holders and the French government.
What’s perhaps the most telling part of this whole episode is how important France is to Spotify in terms of market traction.
With regards to France, Spotify is conveying as much — if not more — grievance with the new tax as it did with Uruguay, yet it has given no indication that it will exit the country.
The European Parliament is calling for new rules to bring more fairness and transparency to music-streaming across the bloc, including proposals for a new bill to force streaming platforms to open up their recommendation algorithms.
The bill would also require Spotify et al to make it clear where a song has been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
While final details are far from set in stone, this might eventually include setting quotas to showcase a certain amount of work from European artists.
However, the company performed a 180-degree turn when the government gave assurances that music-streaming platforms wouldn’t be expected to cover extra costs resulting from the law.
In response, Spotify vowed to cut back its investment in the French market, starting with pulling support for two music festivals.
Spotify is pulling support for two music festivals in protest against a controversial new tax directed at music-streaming platforms operating in France, and threatened more action will follow in the coming months.
While all the major music-streaming platforms have come together in opposition to the new law, including Apple, Google’s YouTube, and local player Deezer, Spotify has been the most vocal.
In the wake of the announcement last week, Spotify said that the move was a “real blow to innovation,” and that it was evaluating its next moves.
The company later pulled a 180-degree turn when the government gave assurances that music-streaming platforms wouldn’t be expected to cover any extra costs resulting from the law.
“Spotify will have the means to absorb this tax, but Spotify will disinvest in France and will invest in other markets,” Monin said in an interview with FranceInfo last week.
