Spotify raises prices in France amid new taxes By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A screen showing Spotify’s logo and trading information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), February 6, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) – Swedish streaming service Spotify (NYSE:) said on Thursday it would raise prices in France due to new taxes, which it claimed would not achieve its intended goals.

Last year, the government decided to impose a 1.2% tax on streaming companies that make money in France to help finance music creation.

“We have worked hard to encourage the government not to add this tax, but unfortunately they have decided to move forward,” Spotify said in a statement.

“To be honest, all French users will see their subscription plans increase. French users will now pay the highest subscription prices in the entire European Union.”

They announced that they plan to announce the extent of the price increase at a later date.

Spotify said in a statement that the tax was wrong and would not support music creation.

“It would create an additional intermediary, the CNM, at the expense of the listeners,” he said, referring to the French National Center for Music.

The tax, which the government expects to raise about 15 million euros ($16.35 million) this year, will contribute to CNM’s support for the music industry, including helping emerging artists and French artists trying to break into international markets, the government said.

CNM CEO Jean-Philippe Thiellay dismissed Spotify’s criticism.

“This tax will not fund the CNM, whose operation is guaranteed by the state, but it will fund creation and diversity,” he told France Musique radio in an interview last year. “100% of these taxes will be put back into the sector.”

(1 dollar = 0.9173 euros)