European Union to back French subsidies for music downloads

18th October, 2010 by adina
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Attempting to fight the continuously rising rate of piracy, the French government would give subsidies for the cost of digital music, according to a recent report. This strategy has received the approval of the European Union and has been appreciated for promoting cultural diversity. Consequently, a French resident who wants to buy a card to download music from a subscription-based website only has to pay half of a 50 euro card (the equivalent of $70), while the government will pay for the remainder.

Some limitations however exist that allow consumers to buy just one such card per year. The program is meant to last two years and will cost France 25 million euros (about $35 million) in case one million cards are sold per year. The plan is believed to benefit mainly 12- to 25-year old consumers.

According to the European Commission, the plan will serve economic development and will also promote cultural diversity in the industry of online music.

Meanwhile, website operators will be asked to cut the price of music, give assistance in advertising the cards and extend the length of subscriptions. The profit of a website operator will be limited to five million euros.


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