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French Government May Subsidize Music Downloads

Posted by Soulskill on from the opening-a-new-front dept.

angry tapir writes "The European Commission has approved a French program to subsidize legal music downloads for young people. The Carte Musique scheme gives €25 (US$35) to French residents aged 12 to 25 to spend on music downloads or subscription services. Young people can purchase a €50 card for just €25, with the balance paid by the state."

45 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. I guess that means by halfEvilTech · · Score: 4, Interesting

    for the next 2 years while this is in effect, the online music services will be raising their prices to milk the system.

    They most likely won't but I wouldn't put it past those seeing this as a good money grab opportunity.

    1. Re:I guess that means by ribuck · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well of course, the intention is to divert taxpayers' money into the "legal music download" industry.

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    2. Re:I guess that means by mangu · · Score: 3, Insightful

      for the next 2 years while this is in effect, the online music services will be raising their prices to milk the system.

      Probably yes, and that would show how stupid they are.

      If I were a teenager, I wouldn't really care about the subsidy. All I would want to know is what I'd be getting for my money. If I had to spend 25 euros on a 50 euros card to get 20 euros worth of music I wouldn't do it.

      As usual, the taxpayer gets fucked. And the music companies, even with the subsidy, will get less than what they would if they had reasonable prices.

    3. Re:I guess that means by ByOhTek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Where do you get that they most likely won't? I probably won't be double, but an extra 50% increse is predictable.

      Normally I'm a moderately liberal individual, and am for the government helping the people, but this is asinine. This is a luxury, not a necessity. This is promoting a specific business model that should survive or fail on it's own merits, not on some kind of corporate welfare.

      W.T.A.F.?

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    4. Re:I guess that means by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Buy Apple shares, quick!

      There's a bunch of French taxpayer money about to be transferred to Apple's account.

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      No sig today...
    5. Re:I guess that means by operagost · · Score: 3, Interesting

      for the next 2 years while this is in effect, the online music services will be raising their prices to milk the system.

      The French government is subsidizing entertainment for a select part of the population, and THIS is your concern?

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    6. Re:I guess that means by andrea.sartori · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not really. If you were a teenager, you would gladly spend your 25, buy 50 worth of music, and when the card is depleted you would go back to downloading illegally.

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      Mostly harmless.
    7. Re:I guess that means by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Normally I'm a moderately liberal individual,

      You can be conservative and socially liberal as well. Don't believe the trolls that tell you that if you are a liberal, you must be for ANYTHING proposed by another self proclaimed liberal. The reverse is also true, you can be conservative and not... Oh how do they put it, 'view Somalia as a libertarian paradise.'

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    8. Re:I guess that means by zeroshade · · Score: 2, Interesting

      When you consider that the "Health Care Industry" also includes the Health Insurance companies, yea. I do blame the Health Care Industry for charging too much too.

      Among other problems in the industry...

    9. Re:I guess that means by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If they use it at all - let's face it, this initiative is not aimed at students who want to buy music, they're already doing so (this might let them buy a bit more) - it's aimed at those who just don't want to buy music at all while it's available free and easy. The best way to combat that attitude is to make music cheap enough that it's essentially free anyway (remove the barrier to impulse buys). Even former label head Rob Dickins agrees this is the best approach - my price point for new albums is now about £5, if they go over that by even a few pennies, I just don't think it's worth the risk losing money on potential dross. If they were a quid I'd buy a hell of a lot more.

    10. Re:I guess that means by DavidTC · · Score: 3, Interesting
      No shit.

      Hey, let's give people a government-enforced ownership and monopoly over a thing, and then subsidize purchases of it.

      If you want to let people download for free, weaken copyright somehow, you idiots. Demand that to have a copyright, you have to give the government X free copies of it or something, and the government can give those out.

      This is just stupid.

      --
      If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
    11. Re:I guess that means by CharlieHedlin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Apparently in order to participate they have to lower prices, but I still think this is a terrible use of public funds.

    12. Re:I guess that means by Xemu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If I was a teenager, I would have bought as many €25 cards I could afford and sold them on ebay for €( 25+x% profit ) to adults wanting to save on their purchases. This scheme is doomed to fail quick.

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    13. Re:I guess that means by Xemu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      ...and as a grown up, I will be selling music in France-- "Buy my song for €50 and get €25 cash-back!"

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    14. Re:I guess that means by timeOday · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh, just calm down. It's France, not the US. We all know they haven't whole-heartedly embraced US-style capitalism. They seem to be getting along just fine, and just because they did something doesn't mean we will.

    15. Re:I guess that means by Xemu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      my price point for new albums is now about £5, if they go over that by even a few pennies, I just don't think it's worth the risk losing money on potential dross. If they were a quid I'd buy a hell of a lot more.

      The $1 iphone apps proves this really well in real life. There are literally many millionaires made because nobody hesitates to pay $1

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    16. Re:I guess that means by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The reverse is also true, you can be conservative and not... Oh how do they put it, 'view Somalia as a libertarian paradise.'

      Perhaps I'm just taking this the wrong way, but (assuming you group libertarians in with the "conservatives") you should know that it generally isn't the libertarians themselves who "view Somalia as a libertarian paradise." This is a categorization usually made by their opponents.

      Libertarians are against aggression in general, of which government happens to be the largest source in most of the "civilized" world—made yet worse by its false shroud of "legitimacy"—but rule-by-tribal-elders (as practiced in Somalia) and the hypothetical rule-by-criminal-gangs scenario are just as thoroughly opposed. Moreover, many of the problems in Somalia exist specifically as a result of external powers attempting to prop up a succession of unwanted central governments in the region.

      --
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    17. Re:I guess that means by Americano · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Arguably, yes. And now we have the choice of buying the one song that's worth a damn for a buck, rather than $10-15 for a single song we like and 8-10 others that are pure crap.

      So now, you can buy the individual song you like for 99 cents - even my *favorite* albums, I'd be hard pressed to say I love "every song on this album," so why focus on trying to help the record companies continue selling albums?

    18. Re:I guess that means by zach_the_lizard · · Score: 2, Informative

      The law is supposed to cap the total subsidy to €5 million.

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      SSC
    19. Re:I guess that means by John+Hasler · · Score: 2, Informative

      > Doesn't sound like government enforcement, ownership or monopoly.

      He means copyright, which certainly is a government-enforced monopoly.

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      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    20. Re:I guess that means by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No need for an increase, prices here are already through the roof.

      The "major" French online retailer (at least the one that's heavily pushing for all those shenanigans) is "Fnac Music", their normal pricing is 10 euros for an album and 1.3 euros for a single (recent) song.
      When you factor in the fact that one euro is 1.41 dollars you get 14.1 dollars for an album and *1.83* dollars for a song.

      So they had their 50% increase even before opening !
      And they still wonder why no one's buying their crap...it has to be teh 3vil pir4tes

  2. Glad this is France by diskofish · · Score: 3, Informative

    Our taxes are already spent on plenty of really really dumb stuff, last thing we need is "free" music downloads. Think of those poor sorry record companies though, how are they supposed to make any money?

    1. Re:Glad this is France by diskofish · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You're missing the point. Why should I be forced to pay a private content provider to provide a service?

      I can't see this providing any social or cultural value: most of the music people are going to be downloading is probably going to be readily available. This is why it is a waste. A better use of the money would be to invest it into music education programs where people actually LEARN how to play and make music.

      I am not against government spending, so long as there is real measurable value in that spending.

  3. Fraud by dintech · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How many cards can I get and can I buy my own music with it from my own 'label'?

    1. Re:Fraud by 1000101 · · Score: 2, Informative
      FTFA:

      Cards are limited to one per person, per year and the French government expects one million cards will be sold each year.

    2. Re:Fraud by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think the French government hasn't done the math.

      Choice A: Spend €25, get €50 of music legally, download the other €999,950* of music from the Internet.

      Choice B: Spend €0, download €1000000 of music from the Internet.

      Which do you choose?

      Of course option B is just more proof that people will still download even when prices are 'dropped'(**).

      [*] Numbers provided by the RIAA
      [**] Only the RIAA could see this as a 'price drop'.

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  4. Which music store ? by psergiu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    25€ to be spent in WHICH music store ? iTunes, Amazon, Napster ?

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    1. Re:Which music store ? by painandgreed · · Score: 2, Insightful

      25 to be spent in WHICH music store ? iTunes, Amazon, Napster ?

      Knowing France, it will probably only be good at a French government site that only sells music by French bands or sung in French that have been approved by some council of culture.

  5. Truly amazing by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Interesting

    France has regular riots with minorities, an economy down the drain, one hell of a reputation with the deportation of Roma and now it gives a 200 million euro subsidy to the music industry?

    Just WTF?

    Is his wife payed for by the music lobby? And it still requires people that in the plan are claimed to be unwilling to pay for music, to pay for music. Just not so much. Once...

    And why does the state have to pay for this? Can't the music industry itself offer a discount action? Why must the average french taxpayer pay for 50% off for some kid for an American song with the money going abroad?

    This isn't even corruption anymore. It shows a level of detachment from reality in the French government that is closer to insanity. "Let them eat cake", at least showed an awareness that the issue was related to food. This proposal doesn't even grasp. "42, beezlebug for I am, bibble", Marie Antoinette was heard to say, just before her head came off. Insanity.

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    1. Re:Truly amazing by delinear · · Score: 2, Informative

      Is his wife payed for by the music lobby?

      Considering Nicolas Sarkozy's wife is herself a "singer/songwriter", it's less likely she's paid for my the music lobby and more likely she actually is the music lobby. It's baffling logic, to say the least - to combat the fact that a percentage of young people are consuming music without paying for it, we'll make a percentage of older people pay for music without consuming it!

  6. State aid? by Krakadoom · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How is that not illegal state aid under EU law? Because they dont target specific content providers? Sounds highly dubious.

    1. Re:State aid? by delinear · · Score: 2, Informative

      EU law is about promoting competition between member states (and theoretically non-member states, although in practice I'm sure they care far less about that). Since this apparently applies to all content providers, it doesn't technically disadvantage anyone unlike, for instance, if they offered subsidies on music performed in French, which would blatantly favour national over international content. Outside this remit, the EU is pretty much powerless to intervene, it's much more a local issue if you feel your government is wasting money during a time of economic crisis and "austerity measures" by propping up an ailing business model.

  7. Re:I guess the French outdid themselves again. by hedwards · · Score: 4, Insightful

    More like fascism, this is just a form of corporate welfare. The industry couldn't figure out how to deal with piracy so now the government is subsidizing their products.

    Ultimately it won't work, I doubt very much that this will really convince people to stop pirating. And on the unlikely event that it works, the question really is why does the French government need to provide a subsidy to what was apparently an issue of supply and demand.

    By all means crack down on those that are distributing the copies, but that's the responsibility of the recording industry, not the government.

  8. Re:I guess the French outdid themselves again. by blackraven14250 · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's a vast improvement over musical chairs.

  9. Headline clarification by Thornae · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Note that this is "may" in the sense of "is permitted to," rather than "might."

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    |>
    Here be Dragons
  10. One quick question? by xednieht · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Where does the French government "earn" it money from? The French government isn't subsidising squat, the French people are.

    --

    Hope is the currency of fools
  11. There is more music than you can listen to by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In a normal market, that would lead to lower prices.

    Even in an abnormal market, it will lead to lower prices eventually.

    (There are also more movies than you can ever see now, more tv shows, more books).

    Unless the music, book, movie, etc. is spectacularly special, I'll choose the less expensive one first.

    I stopped paying over $10 for DVD's several years ago. Actually, I mostly just stopped buying DVD's as I realized they were clogging up the house and I was never going to watch most of them again.

    --
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    1. Re:There is more music than you can listen to by Americano · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In a normal market, that would lead to lower prices.

      For something that's a commodity, yes. Farmer Bob's corn is pretty much the same as Farmer John's corn. Saudi Arabia's oil is pretty much the same as Venezuela's oil. South African gold is pretty much the same as gold produced by Peru.

      However, Metallica's CD is quite different from Britney Spears' CD. The entertainment industries will never produce "commodity" music - or let's hope they never do. As such, price is not the only determining factor in choosing the products, and in many cases, it's not even remotely a factor: if you offered me Lady Gaga's entire catalog for $1, I'd probably decline, because I simply don't dig her music. It's not something I'd be interested in listening to. In the same breath, offer me a copy of good-quality outtakes, unreleased songs, and other studio 'rarities' produced during recording sessions by Tool, Bruce Springsteen, or other artists I *like* for $20, and I'd probably hand over $20 on the spot.

      When personal taste factors into the buying decision, you won't necessarily have an asymptotic approach to a price of $0, because people like what they like, and the existence of 10 million other records out there wouldn't make me miss Tool's "Undertow" or Springsteen's "Nebraska" any less, or replace those albums for me if I couldn't afford a copy of them.

    2. Re:There is more music than you can listen to by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Its valid except...

      High quality entertainment has completely saturated me. There is now more high quality entertainment than I can consume.

      Which means high quality entertainment is now a commodity to me. And I suspect I'm not the only one.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  12. And what does this say to those 12-25 by Osgeld · · Score: 2, Interesting

    'Free' music is your god given right, so much so they government even gives it to you as a social service?

    what happens when those cards run out (quickly)? Yea a bunch of 'kids' who now think they are entitled to it are going to steal it and have a whole new mindset about doing so

  13. Wow... by Haedrian · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can the french government get any worse? First they implement the 3 strikes law.

    Now they will throw 25 million euros a year (according to their estimates) - in order to pay the music industry. Why not grab the 25 million and use them to build more parks, or reduce homelessness, or put into education?

    Answer: Because there aren't any 'homelessness lobbies'

  14. If there's any European people reading... by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Vote Pirate Party in the next elections. It's the only sane thing to do.

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  15. Why the middlemen? by porneL · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Cut out the middlemen and give it directly to recording industry lobbyists.

  16. Re:I guess the French outdid themselves again. by Blue+Stone · · Score: 2

    The real question that bugs me is how much does this have to do with the President's wife being a recording artist?

    No subsidies? No blowjobs for you!

    --
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  17. Re:money for nothing (and your cheques for free) by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why dont they just write a cheque to the record industry and cut out the middle man.

    Because the point of this program is to train the 12-25 yo crowd to pay for music. Apparently the French government believes they're all pirates (who might vote pirate party if not trained).