Spotify pulls support of French festivals after-tax imposed on streaming services

Spotify has announced that in response to French parliament rolling out taxes imposed on music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, they will no longer support French-driven music initiatives. Spotify states they are pulling their funding and on-site activations from 2 previously planned festivals; Francofolies de La Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges festivals.

Spotify was set to promote the French Francofolies de La Rochelle and Printemps de Bourges festivals in the near future. However, with the announcement by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and his governing body, Spotify has rescinded their support. This includes removing funding for the festivals as well as on-site activations. The tax being introduced was deliberated over several months with great levels of consultation. The tax would require streaming services requiring paid subscriptions to turn over 1.2% of all profits made in the French domain.

The proceeds from the tax are set to go to France’s National Music Center (CNM). The center, created in 2020 to support the wider French and international music industry, is believed to require bolstering from streaming service funds as they are currently funded on a 3.5% tax on French ticket sales, contributions from the state covering operational costs, and some support from organizations overseeing musical rights management. The French government also announced that they would waive the tax on business operating with less than €20 million a year in turnover.

During the process of the consultations over the new French tax, Spotify headed a campaign to move away from a generalized tax on music streaming in hopes of promoting a more charitable voluntary contribution amongst music streaming platforms which was purported to bring in over €14m in 2025. Now, the streaming platform has shifted it’s sights to supporting other initiatives in the music industry, such as support for burgeoning artist initiatives such as Chantier and iNOUïs. The streaming platform has also come forward since to state that they will be announcing even more avenues of support in the music industry in 2024.