Swedish audio streaming platform
Spotify
is set to increase its prices in
France
. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the price hike will be implied due to a new tax. The report notes that the Daniel Ek-led company has argued that the new tax will fail to accomplish its intended goal.
In 2023, the French government decided to slap a 1.2% tax on the
revenue streaming companies
starting this year.
The government believes that this tax will help the country to help finance music creation.
What Spotify said about the price hike
In a statement, the company said: “While Spotify worked very hard to encourage the government to avoid adding this tax, unfortunately they decided to move forward. To put it bluntly, all French users will see their subscription plan fee go up. French users will now pay the highest subscriptions across the European Union.”
Spotify has confirmed that it would announce the exact details about the price increase in the coming days. The company also emphasised that the tax was misguided and would not help music creation.
Referring to France’s National Music Centre, the company said: “It will simply come at the expense of listeners and create an additional middleman: the CNM.”
How the tax may help the French music industry
The French tax government said that this tax will help the country to raise about 15 million euros ($16.35 million) in 2024. These funds are expected to contribute to CNM’s support for the music industry. It includes helping emerging artists and French artists trying to break through abroad.
The head of the CNM,
Jean-Philippe Thiellay
rejected Spotify’s criticism. In an interview with France Musique radio in 2023, Thiellay said that the tax “will not finance the CNM, whose operations are ensured by the state, but it will finance creation and diversity. 100% of this tax will be re-injected into the sector.”