NMPA_International_Survey_12th_Edition

APPENDIX
C
FRANCE UPDATE
Bucking trends across Europe, the French music
market posted positive gains for 2002.According
to IFPI figures,the country’s market grew by 2.5%
in units to 176.4 million, with a corresponding rise in
value of 3.5% to i2.11 billion ($1.99 billion). Increases
in album sales—from 122.8 million to 125.7 million—
and a maintaining of the popularity of local repertoire
at around 58% were cited as factors in the growth for
the world’s fourth largest market, which grew for the
third consecutive year.
The French government’s call for a lower rate of VAT
(value-added tax, or sales tax) on prerecorded music
has received some support from other governments
and music-industry representatives across the EU. In a
Nov. 11, 2002 speech to the Council of the EU in
Brussels, French minister of culture and communication
Jean-Jacques Aillagon announced the appointment
of former minister of culture François Léotard
who in 1987 was instrumental in lowering France’s VAT
rate from 33.33% to 21% as the country’s envoy to the
European Commission (EC) and EU member states,
promoting France’s position on VAT. A VAT reduction
would require the unanimous agreement of all 15 EU
members. Aillagon maintains that a VAT reduction
potentially could bring CD prices in Europe below the
i15 ($15.12) mark, thus sparking higher sales.
The issue first took on greater importance on July 24,
2002, when the French government made an official
request to the European commissioner responsible for
tax affairs for prerecorded music to be registered in
Appendix H of the EU’s existing VAT Directive,due to be
revised in 2003. Goods or services on Appendix H are
eligible for a reduced VAT rate, although each member
state is allowed to decide on its own whether or not to
apply the lower rate.
SACEM
OFFICER:
Chairman:
Bernard Miyet
The Societe des Auteurs,
Compositeurs et Editeurs de
Musique (SACEM) is an association
administered by music creators
and publishers. Its board of
directors is composed of six
authors,six composers,one authordirector
and six publishers.
SACEM
225 Avenue Charles de Gaulle
92528 Neuilly-sur-Seine Cedex, France
Tel.: (33) 1 47 15 47 15
Fax: (33) 1 47 45 12 94
Website: www.sacem.fr
In April 2003, leading French music retailer FNAC
launched a high-profile European campaign in support
of a lower VAT rate on recorded music,inviting customers
to its stores in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal
to sign a petition that will be sent to the European
Commission in Brussels in June. FNAC stores also
planned to discount some new releases by an amount
that would approximate the release’s price with a lower
VAT rate,with FNAC absorbing the difference in prices.
Just before France’s 2002 presidential elections,
SNEP published “Proposals in Favor of the
Development of the Music Industry,” a manifesto
designed to emphasize areas where the group maintained
the government should be aiding the music
industry. Among the document’s suggestions were the
creation of a TV music channel with a high share of
French music and new French talent; an increase of
music programming on existing public TV channels; a
change in broadcasting legislation to allow a greater
diversity in the repertoire played on radio and TV; and
increased anti-piracy efforts both in the physical marketplace
and on the Internet.
In the meantime,music channels will be prominently
featured on the country’s new terrestrial digital-TV
platform, due to be launched at the end of 2004.
Broadcasting agency CSA allotted slots on the free digital
service to 16 channels, including two music channels:
iMCM and RTL’s M6 Music.French radio group NRJ also
received a slot for its NRJ TV, whose programming is
50% music.
French independent labels body UPFI has said it will
oppose any merger affecting the current five major
record companies. UPFI and independent group
Impala’s vociferous opposition to proposed Warner/EMI
and BMG/EMI mergers in 2000 helped block those deals.
The Main Organizations of the French Music Industry Are:
SNEP
OFFICER:
Director General:
Herve Rony
The Syndicat National de
l’Edition Phonographique is the
official organization of the recording
industry.
SNEP
27 rue du Docteur Lancereaux
75008 Paris, France
Tel.: (33) 1 44 13 66 66
Fax: (33) 1 53 76 07 33
Website:
www.disqueenfrance.com/snep
NMPA INTERNATIONAL SURVEY TWELTH EDITION APPENDIX C: U.K., JAPAN, GERMANY, FRANCE, CANADA, ITALY AND SPAIN UPDATES
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