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07 Mar 2024

J. Cole, SZA, Nicki Minaj & Chris Brown to Headline Dreamville Festival 2024

J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival is returning to North Carolina in April, and he’s put together an all-star team to hit the stage alongside him this year.

Dreamville Fest 2024 announced its lineup of heavy hitters on Thursday (March 7), with SZA, Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown set to serve as headliners with J. Cole.

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The anticipated fourth edition of the annual festival — which launched in 2018 — is set to take over Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7. Tickets are already on sale with a limited number of general admission passes still available for the two-day event.

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“Some of the biggest names in music will travel to Raleigh in only a few short weeks, bringing about one of the most highly anticipated festivals of the year. Our team looks forward to welcoming all of our Day One fans from around the world back to Dreamville Festival,” said Dreamville Cofounder and Festival President Adam Roy in a statement.

The rest of this year’s stacked lineup will feature sets from Lil Yachty, JID, Sexyy Red, ScHoolboy Q, Teezo Touchdown, Jeezy, Monica, Rae Sremmurd, Key Glock, Jeremih, Lul Tyler, Muni Long and more.

From the Dreamville hometeam, fans can expect EARTHGANG, Bas, Cozz, Lute, and Omen to hit the stage as well.

In addition to the musical acts, there will be plenty of other attractions for festivalgoers throughout the weekend including carnival rides, immersive art installations and a variety of food options.

Find the full Dreamville Festival 2024 lineup broken down below.

Saturday, April 6:

  • SZA
  • Chris Brown
  • J.I.D.
  • Lil Yachty
  • ScHoolboyQ
  • Sexyy Red
  • Jeremih
  • EARTHGANG
  • Teezo Touchdown
  • Amaarae
  • Lute
  • Luh Tyler
  • Domani

Saturday, April 7:

  • J. Cole
  • Nicki Minaj
  • Rema
  • Jeezy
  • Monica
  • Rae Sremmurd
  • Key Glock
  • Bas
  • Muni Long
  • Cozz
  • Omen
  • TiaCorine
  • Chase Shakur

See the announcement below:

07 Mar 2024

Miami Beach Says “No” To Black Spring Breakers On South Beach?

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The city of Miami Beach is actively prohibiting spring break visitors in a new campaign, with some feeling it’s discriminatory to Black people..

On Friday (March 1), the City of Miami Beach released a television commercial showcasing its new “Spring Breakup” campaign, which is designed to compel tourists planning to visit the city in March from engaging in violent and disruptive actions. The campaign was first announced in February at a press conference where details on the program were first released.



“The measures I proposed approved by our Commission will ensure that our residents, businesses, and visitors are safe and thrive during Spring Break,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. “If you are looking to cause problems, do not come to Miami Beach,” added Chief Wayne Jones. “We are fully prepared to ensure our city is safe for everyone. Our message is simple: we want people to enjoy their time here, but will not tolerate the behavior we have witnessed in the past few years.” The new rules include a flat fee of $30 for parking garages and surface lots in South Beach, and limited access to the beach begins at 6 p.m. with law enforcement conducting bag checks. In addition, police will employ license plate readers on certain streets and parking garages will be closed on high-impact weekends from Thursday to Saturday with towing rates set at $516.

The campaign for the popular 10-block stretch comes after several high-profile incidents have taken place there in recent years including back-to-back shootings that left two dead amid 573 arrests made in the area last year. While the campaign is welcomed by some who have been upset over the violent incidents, some business owners have expressed concern that it could hurt them. “This is devastating to businesses,” says Mango’s Tropical Cafe owner David Wallack. “It’s been devastating every year that [spring break] has been going on. This is even more devastating. It’s preparing for a war.”

It’s also gotten heavy brushback from those who say the rules explicitly target Black tourists, who’ve increasingly visited Miami Beach. They point to a state of emergency enacted in 2021 after shootings occurred. “The only emergency in Miami Beach is that there were Black people there,” said Miami-Dade’s Black Affairs Advisory Board member Stephen Hunter Johnson. Hip-Hop icon and 2 Live Crew member Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell echoed those sentiments in a post on X, formerly Twitter, calling it racism.

07 Mar 2024

Colman Domingo Brings New Life To Prison Inmates In ‘Sing Sing’ Trailer

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While we await word on whether or not Marvel will be replacing Jonathan Major’s Kang The Conqueror character with Colman Domingo, the movie star has a new film coming out that will not only showcase his acting chops, but could also move a few hardened hearts out there, too.

A24 released the trailer for their upcoming film Sing Sing which stars Colman Domingo as an inmate who uses the art of theater to help rehabilitate other inmates in prison. Based on the true story of John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield, the trailer for the Greg Kwedar directed film seems like it’s capable of putting Domingo on a path to an Oscar nomination as we see him take his theater troupe on a journey through their inner selves and momentarily escaping their reality of being locked up away from society.

With one inmate emotionally saying “We here to become human again and enjoy the things that is not in our reality,” you know tears are going to stream out of the eyes of audiences across the board when this film drops.

Marvel might sign Domingo quickfast after seeing this joint.

check out the trailer to Sing Sing below and let us know if you’ll be checking for it when it hits theaters later this year.



07 Mar 2024

From Beyoncé to Post Malone, Why Is Everyone Going Country?

Bolstered by acts like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Luke Combs, country music in 2023 experienced its biggest growth spurt in more than 30 years — way back when Garth Brooks soared to superstardom. Already, this year seems on track to continue that explosion, as country stars and pop icons alike are capitalizing on the genre’s recent boom.

In February, Beyoncé became the first Black woman to top Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with her galloping hit, “Texas Hold ’Em,” from her upcoming Act II, expected to be a full-on country album, out March 29. Post Malone has teased a duet with Combs on social media and written with other genre stars including Wallen and HARDY for his upcoming country album. And Lana Del Rey — who declared that her fall album, Lasso, will be a country set — recently posted a snippet of a song that she worked on with noted Nashville songwriter-producer Luke Laird.

CMT senior vp of music strategy and talent Leslie Fram views the influx as a sign of “overwhelming respect for the storytelling and the songwriting in Nashville,” but predicts that noncountry artists taking up slots at terrestrial country radio “is going to be a major topic of conversation … If [a core country artist] has spent 30 to 50 weeks trying to climb up a chart and, all of a sudden, they’re replaced by someone who is not in the genre, I do believe there will be concerns.”

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However, Simon Tikhman, co-founder of The Core Entertainment, which manages Nickelback and country upstarts Bailey Zimmerman and Nate Smith, sees the possible radio displacement as a good sign overall. “We were on a call with Nate’s Sony team talking about adds at radio, and No. 1 was Beyoncé and No. 2 was Nate,” he says, adding that The Core Entertainment co-founder Kevin “Chief” Zaruk “and I were like, ‘This is amazing that she sees what’s going on over here.’ She’s as brilliant as a performer gets, and she wants to be part of this. It just goes to show how powerful the genre is right now.”

As Alan Jackson famously sang in his 1994 hit, “Gone Country,” for decades, any artist who released such music but who hadn’t moved to Nashville or put in the time building a country audience and courting country radio was considered a carpetbagger. But now, many insiders see it as a sign that borders between genres have fallen and that country’s recent surge in popularity has made it extremely appealing to artists who have fallen in love with the music, too.

And unlike in the past, when artists might explore country only as their pop career dwindled, today’s infiltration and interest are coming from names at the peak of their pop prowess. “It isn’t like the heritage artists before that wanted to do a country record. These are artists at the top of their game,” Fram says. Olivia Rodrigo attended Megan Moroney’s Los Angeles show last year and posted photos backstage together. And in November, Post Malone made his debut performance at the Country Music Association Awards.

Plus, fandom aside, it’s smart business. “The pop labels are seeing the success of a Morgan Wallen,” Sony Nashville chairman/CEO Randy Goodman says of the country superstar, whose smash “Last Night” and album One Thing at a Time logged the most weeks of any song or album on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 last year, respectively. He adds: “The biggest female artist in the world is Taylor [Swift], who started in country. I don’t think that’s lost on any of the labels.”

Range Media Partners co-founder Matt Graham, whose company manages Jack Harlow, Midland and Saweetie, believes the pop transplants could help expand country’s global audience. “It’s good for making the genre international,” he says, noting that acts like Wallen and Combs have already helped country grow worldwide. “This has the potential to blow that wide open.” He predicts streaming numbers for country artists, which were already up nearly 24% year over year in 2023 domestically, according to Luminate, will “drastically” increase this year and beyond.

And the genre-flipping isn’t just flowing one way: Country artists are finding success in other formats, too. Combs had a massive crossover hit with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” and Wallen topped Billboard’s year-end Streaming Songs Artists chart, the first time a country act had achieved the feat. Meanwhile, Jelly Roll and HARDY — both of whom are considered primarily country artists — reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock and Hard Rock charts, respectively.

Like 21-year-old Rodrigo, younger music listeners don’t “put music in a box,” Zaruk says, noting Zimmerman’s November duet with the Jonas Brothers. “For years, country fans didn’t really listen to hip-hop and rap and rap fans were not listening to country,” he continues. “We’re genreless now.”

This story will appear in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.

07 Mar 2024

Watch a Joyous Jimmy Buffett Dance Through ‘The University of Bourbon Street’: Video Premiere

The late Jimmy Buffett deeply loved New Orleans. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, he moved to the Crescent City for a year and his time there informed the rest of his musical life. 

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He played New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at least a dozen times, adored New Orleans legendary composer/artist Allen Toussaint (who wrote a song called “I’m Gonna Hang with Jimmy Buffett”), recorded and toured with local icons The Neville Brothers, and when asked by a journalist if he thought “there would be a Jimmy Buffett if there wasn’t a New Orleans,” Buffett replied, “I don’t think there ever would have been.” 

On his final album, Equal Strain on All Parts, which was released Nov. 3 via Mailboat/Sun, two months after his Sept. 1 death, Buffett again professed his love for New Orleans and what the city meant to him on the rollicking  “The College of Bourbon Street.” 

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In the video for the autobiographical anthem, which premieres above, Buffett, with a little help from  the renowned Preservation Jazz Hall Band, chronicles his history with the city. Anchored by footage of a grinning Buffett recording the song in the studio last year, the video also includes decades of photographs and clips of Buffett performing in New Orleans and just enjoying the multitudes of delights the city has to offer.

He’s shown leading a second line, busking in the French Quarter with a sign in his guitar case that reads “will play for gumbo,” hanging out with fans at Margaritaville, playing at Jazz Fest and excitedly getting ready to sample some gumbo. The video does everything to reinforce the notion that Buffett lived and loved every moment to the fullest in his 76 years on earth. 

Buffett wrote the song with Will Kimbrough, who told Buffettnews.com that he “started writing ‘The University of Bourbon Street’ on my couch Dec 19, 2022, after Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers sent me one of his ‘are you ready for some homework? messages.” He then joined Buffett in the studio last January to record the song. “One of the most profound experiences of this time period was rewriting the lyrics from beginning to end right there in the studio with Jimmy” he told the website. “No pressure! But we did it. Despite his illness, he was 100% on and energetics, lighting up the room with that smile. Making everyone feel comfortable and laugh.”

07 Mar 2024

Kesha Bares All in First Tease of Post-Dr. Luke Era Music: ‘First Day I’ve Owned My Voice in 19 Years’

Kesha is ready to begin again. The singer who was locked in a battle with former producer/label boss Dr. Luke for nearly a decade over her claims that he raped and emotionally abused her posted a snippet of new music and hinted an her new era in a post on Wednesday (March 6); Luke (born Lukasz Gottwald) has denied the allegations.

“First day I’ve owned my own voice in 19 years. Welcome,” Kesha tweeted, later sharing a 42-second snippet of an emotional, ethereal new song in which she sings, “I’ve been waiting for you/ Everything’s changed now/ We haven’t talked for a while,” accompanied by a video in which the singer strips off her white slip and wades naked into a stream. She also posted what appeared to be an album cover shot and launched a new website, keshaiswaitingforyou.com, which at press time only featured a link to her social media accounts and a nude image of the singer’s back in a nighttime desert landscape.

In an Instagram live, Kesha, 42, smiled, cried and danced along to an upbeat new song that featured her signature confessional lyrics.

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The new music would be the follow-up to last year’s Gag Order album, which was her final under contract to Luke’s Kemosabe label. Kesha sued Luke in 2014 over allegations that he’d sexually and emotionally abused her — including a claim that he allegedly drugged and raped her at a 2005 party — which he denied; that action led to a countersuit from Luke claiming breach of contract and defamation, with the latter action settled before a planned June 2023 trial.

In a December TikTok, Kesha shared a video of her running into the ocean with the caption, “I haven’t felt this free since I was 18,” followed by a post in January, in which she promised fans “new music coming soon!” The message was written on a cardboard box she was seen holding in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Los Angeles. At press time no additional information was available on the name or release date of the singer’s sixth album.

Check out Kesha’s new era announcements below.

07 Mar 2024

Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ Rerecording Featured in New Episode of Apple TV+ Patriots Series

The new Reputation era begins now. A preview of Taylor Swift‘s rerecording of her 2017 Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Look What You Made Me Do” from her upcoming Reputation (Taylor’s Version) album is featured in the new episode of the Apple TV+ 10-part sports docuseries The Dynasty: New England Patriots.

According to People magazine, the “Taylor’s Version” of “Look” is featured in a clip in which former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola talks about legendary QB Tom Brady’s comeback after the “Deflategate” cheating controversy of 2015; the Indianapolis Colts accused the Patriots of using underinflated balls during that year’s AFC championship game.

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“The king is back. Here he goes. Watch him get pissed off and go,” Amendola says in the “Under Pressure” episode that debuts on Friday (March 8) as the reboot version of “Look What You Made Me Do” plays in the background. It’s not the first time Swift has given a sneak peek at the lead single from the 2017 album that is next in line in her series of “Version” re-recordings of her back catalog.

Last summer, the teaser for the Amazon Original psychological thriller Wilderness featured the “Look What You Made Me Do” refresh throughout its trailer; the release date for the Reputation re-record has not yet been announced. Swift also previewed the re-recording of “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” in an episode of the second season of the Prime Video series The Summer I Turned Pretty last year.

Swift is preparing to release her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19. The singer is in the midst of releasing Taylor’s Version versions of her albums on former label Big Machine, which so far include re-dos of Fearless (2021), Red (2021), Speak Now (2023) and 1989 (2023).

07 Mar 2024

What Europe’s Digital Markets Act Means for the Music Business

If bosses at the world’s biggest technology companies were still in any way doubting the European Union’s commitment towards regulating the digital marketplace, the 1.8 billion euro ($1.95 billion) fine levied against Apple on Monday (March 4) by the European Commission for breaking competition laws over music streaming served as a powerful statement of intent.

This week, more new EU rules come into force governing how the largest online platforms operate in Europe, now that the deadline for complying with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) has passed. 

Beginning today (March 7), the six tech giants designated “gatekeepers” by the European Commission — Apple, Google parent company Alphabet, Amazon, TikTok-owner ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft – are required to comply with a raft of legislative changes designed to rein in their global dominance. 

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They include outlawing companies favoring in-house services at the expense of third-party providers and forcing platforms to offer other businesses, such as apps, access to the data they generate – allowing smaller services to contact their customers directly and making it easier for users to switch services.

The laws are enforceable by fines of up to 20% of total worldwide turnover (aka, gross revenue) for repeat infringers, or, in extreme cases the “last resort option” of forced divestments and the break-up of businesses. 

THIS IS FINE

The changes are already having a significant impact on digital music services and, in turn, the global record business. 

In January, Apple announced that it will begin allowing European users to download app stores other than the company-operated one that comes installed on iPhones. It will additionally lower the fees it charges developers for purchases made through the App Store, reducing commission from the existing 15% to 30% level to between 10% and 17% for developers using the company’s payment-processing system. 

However, Apple’s plans to charge “high volume” services with over one million users a €0.50 ($0.54) “Core Technology Fee” per download, per year, for using alternatives to the App Store has been heavily criticized by a number of European businesses, including Spotify and Deezer.

“Apple’s new terms not only disregard both the spirit and letter of the law, but if left unchanged, make a mockery of the DMA,” said the streaming services in an open letter to the European Commission, sent last week and also signed by 32 other European digital companies and associations, including trade body Digital Music Europe.

The new fee structure, which only apply in the 27 EU member states, will deter app developers from opting into the revised terms “and will hamper fair competition,” say Spotify and Deezer, calling on regulators to take “swift, timely and decisive action against Apple.” (In January, Spotify stated in a company blog post that the new fees “equates for us to being the same or worse as under the old rules.”)

Similar anti-competition concerns were behind the European Commission’s decision to fine Apple 1.8 billion euros at the start of March, following longstanding complaints from Spotify over Apple’s restrictions to outside developers and the 30% fee it charges them on all purchases made through iOS apps. (Apple has said it will appeal the fine, which was issued under existing EU terms, rather the Digital Markets Act).

Defending its response to the new EU provisions, Apple estimates that less than 1% of developers will pay the Core Technology Fee and warned that the DMA brings greater risks to users and developers by compromising its ability to detect malware, fraud and illicit content in external apps. 

NOT JUST APPLE

Other so-called gatekeepers – defined by policy makers as a platform with an annual turnover of more than 7.5 billion euros ($8.1 billion) and more than 45 million active monthly users in the EU region — are also making sweeping changes as a result of the DMA. 

Aside from Apple, music executives will be paying most attention to how ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok responds to the law’s provisions. In November, the company launched an appeal against the EU’s classification of TikTok as a “gatekeeper” arguing that the platform is a “challenger, not an incumbent, in the digital advertising market” and that the new rules could hamper its ability to “remain competitive and grow.”

Despite the ongoing legal challenge, TikTok has already taken a number of steps to comply with the terms of the DMA, including the launch of enhanced data portability tools that allow developers to download and export data profiles, followers and posts from TikTok to other services with users’ permission. These changes are being introduced now to European users, TikTok announced in a blog post on March 4, “with plans to roll out globally in the near future.”

In January, Google and YouTube parent company Alphabet announced that it will allow users to pick their default browser and provide more links to competing sites when searching Google – although, like Apple, Alphabet’s compliance with the DMA has been questioned.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter) this month, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney criticized the tech giant for imposing a commission fee of up to 27% for any app purchases made not using Google’s payment services. (Google/Alphabet has previously been issued three major fines totaling 8.2 billion euros by the EU over antitrust issues). 

Meanwhile, Meta is allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts to prevent personal information being shared for targeted ads. Amazon is modifying its Amazon Ads service to provide stronger data protections for customers, and Microsoft is implementing changes to its Windows operating system.

The terms of the Digital Markets Act only apply to companies and services operating in the 27-member state EU block, but their impact extends far afield. Following the EU’s lead, similar regulations to rein in tech companies’ dominance are being drawn up in several other nations, including Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil, Australia and the United Kingdom.

What meaningful impact the DMA or comparable international legislation will actually have on curbing Big Tech — and the music companies that either drive or rely upon them to reach audiences — could take years to be felt, if at all, but EU regulators say they are not shying away from the challenge.

“We are looking very carefully at how companies are complying [with the DMA]” the European Commission recently said in a statement, “and once we have full enforcement powers will not hesitate to act.”

07 Mar 2024

‘Masked Singer’ Host Nick Cannon Gets Hilariously Pranked By Kevin Hart in Surprise Reveal

This is what (comedy) friends are for. On Wednesday night’s (March 6) season 11 premier of The Masked Singer, host Nick Cannon got totally got by his comedy pal Kevin Hart, who made a surprise guest appearance in the clunky Book costume.

While actual cloaked performers Ugly Sweater, Starfish, Goldfish and Lovebird sang for a spot on the show, Hart stumbled his way through Ne-Yo’s “So Sick,” drawing smiles and laughs from judges Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg, Ken Jeong and newbie Rita Ora. The panel could not contain themselves as Hart — whose voice was unmistakable underneath the boxy costume — bumbled his way through the song by last season’s winner.

“They love the book because that was so amazing,” Cannon said after the performance, which Thicke also called “amazing.” “Like, I’ve done a lot, but what I’m doing right now? This might be my most novel experience yet,” Hart said through a voice changer afterwards as Thicke said his face hurt from smiling.

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When the big reveal came later in the show, Thicke, who had guessed Hart, took a victory lap and hugged the funnyman while Cannon complained that the comedian was breaking the rules. “I got you! Oh, I got you Nick! This was a prank, you had no idea!… And guess what Nick? There’s nothing you can do about it!,” Hart shouted as the host lamented that his friend was out of order by bringing their longtime prank war to his stage.

“This is stupid,” Cannon complained. “That was the worst performance ever in the history of this show, how about that!”

“On purpose, Nick!” the stand-up shouted. “I performed bad on purpose!”

“You embarrassed yourself, that was stupid!” Cannon shot back.

“No, I don’t look stupid. I look put together Nick,” Hart said while wearing a flesh-colored sock on his head to go with a black long sleeved shirt, white pants and book-shaped shoes. “There’s nothing stupid about me. You know who looks stupid? You, in that stupid jacket!”

Cannon — wearing a sparkly dinner jacket — disagreed, saying, “you ruined the freakin’ show! We was gonna bring everybody out, vote, deliberate…” Hart checked his pockets and snapped, “I’m trying to see if I have a little bit of care, cuz I don’t care. That’s not my problem, that’s your problem. This is me, up on you now, Kevin Hart 1, you nothing!”

The two old friends co-hosted the 2023 E! series Celebrity Prank Wars and have played tricks on each other before, including Cannon getting Hart a llama for his 42nd birthday in 2021 and Kevin posting Nick’s personal phone number on a billboard in 2021.

Elsewhere, Lovebird sang Phillip Phillips’ “Home,” Ugly Sweater did Tina Turner’s “The Best,” Starfish took on Madonna’s “Material Girl” and Goldfish ran through Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire.” Next week’s show will feature a Wizard of Oz theme, with former competitor LeAnn Rimes (aka Sun) returning to perform “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and the introduction of new singers Gumball, Afghan Hound, The Beets and Miss Cleocatra.

Watch Hart’s performance and unmasking below.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=O5id7_NBbiI&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent



07 Mar 2024

Spotify Is Hiking Its Subscription Prices In France Following Music Streaming Tax

Spotify will pass-on the music streaming tax imposed by the French government by hiking its subscription prices in that market.

As previously reported, France’s National Assembly last December approved a so-called “CNM Tax” on streaming brands, the funds from which would finance the national public body, The Centre National de la Musique (CNM), which was created in 2020 and is already partly financed by the live music industry.

The tax was predictably decried by the streaming services. For platforms that earn more than 20 million euros ($22 million) in annual turnover — including Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer — a new tax charge of 1.2% would be applied on all streaming revenue generated in France in addition to their existing tax duties. Social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok, which license and feature music, would also be subject to the taxes.

Spotify, the global market leader, said it couldn’t absorb the Macron government’s new costs and would offset them one way or another.

After announcing back in December that the streaming giant would pull its financial support to a number of local music festivals, Spotify today (March 7) confirms a price increase for its premium packages – applied only to subscribers in France.

Reps from Spotify claim the tax doesn’t add up. This new fee “will generate approximately 15 million euros, when the CNM’s administrative budget (office fees, personnel, capital expenditure, media monitoring or professional training etc.) sits at 20.2 million euros,” reads an open statement issued today.

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“Our concern is that possibly less than half of its overall 146.9 million euros budget will find its way toward effectively aiding music.”

Spotify, the message continues, “has proudly championed French artists for the past 15 years; we certainly didn’t wait for the CNM to be created in 2020 to help artists find success in France, and outside of France; to help promote French repertoire and grow the royalty pool for French rights holders. Spotify’s payments have totaled close to 225 million euros in 2022 alone (or about 1/4th of all the French recorded music industry revenues for that year). That is up more than 200% percent since 2017.”

The price increase isn’t laid out, though Spotify promises to update its French subscribers over the coming weeks with full details.

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“To put it bluntly, all French users will see their subscription plan fee go up,” the message confirms. “French users will now pay the highest subscriptions across the European Union.”

Read Spotify’s open-letter below.

Spotify Premium subscribers in France will soon experience a price increase due to additional costs on music streaming services imposed by the government, as part of the “CNM Tax.” While we worked very hard to encourage the government to avoid adding this tax, unfortunately they decided to move forward. 

Perhaps you’ve never heard of the CNM – it’s a public body that commissions studies on the French music industry, and provides financial aid to record labels and the live industry. At the end of 2023, as part of its 2024 budget, the French government decided that digital music streaming services will now have to pay a new tax in order to finance it. Our worry, on top of what would be equivalent to a double payment on our part,  has been that this tax will not go directly to artists, nor will it have a tangible output visible to fans; instead, it will simply come at the expense of listeners, and create an additional middleman – the CNM. In fact, this tax will generate approximately 15 million euros, when the CNM’s administrative budget (office fees, personnel, capital expenditure, media monitoring or professional training etc.) sits at 20.2 million euros. Our concern is that possibly less than half of its overall 146.9 million euros budget will find its way toward effectively aiding music.

Spotify has proudly championed French artists for the past 15 years; we certainly didn’t wait for the CNM to be created in 2020 to help artists find success in France, and outside of France; to help promote French repertoire and grow the royalty pool for French rights holders. Spotify’s payments have totaled close to 225 million euros in 2022 alone (or about 1/4th of all the French recorded music industry revenues for that year). That is up more than 200% percent since 2017.

Yet, 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. Of course, this is a massive amount and does not allow for a sustainable business. As we have long said, we simply can’t absorb any additional taxes. Even after making the difficult decision to reduce our artist marketing budget and support of French music festivals – which is an essential vehicle for Spotify to continue to drive hundreds of millions of euros to the music industry – it still continues to impede our ability to operate in France. Accordingly, over the coming weeks and months, we’ll need to make changes to our price plan in France. 

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 is increasing prices in France in order to offset these new costs.  We’ll come back to our French subscribers over the coming weeks with the full details on the upcoming price increase.

For more information on the global streaming economy, the players, and the process, visit our website Loud & Clear.