Local musicians should no longer be discriminated against: Spotify & Co. can be punished in Switzerland

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It could mean a breakthrough for young musicians: anyone who appears in a Spotify playlist can reach a large audience in one fell swoop. But: it is difficult for Swiss musicians to get on such lists. “Spotify has neglected, discriminated and hindered the Swiss music market for years,” Philipp Truninger of the Swiss Music Label Industry Association (IFPI) recently complained.

Now Center National Councilor Stefan Müller-Altermatt (47) and his colleagues are making a new attempt to “eliminate discrimination against Swiss music makers in the streaming market”. Finally, the Federal Council itself stated in its response to an earlier proposal that Switzerland “does not receive sufficient visibility” on platforms such as Spotify and Co.

Think ‘appropriate and non-discriminatory’.

Hobby musician Müller-Altermatt calls on the Federal Council to establish a new legal basis that stipulates that streaming platforms in this country must reflect Swiss music creation “in an appropriate and non-discriminatory manner”. They should be required to enter into an industry agreement with the relevant associations of Swiss musicians and producers. If these are not achieved within a reasonable time, the federal government must establish a catalog of sanctions.

The Federal Council is aware that the reason for the low visibility of Swiss music creators on streaming platforms is the small size of the Swiss market in a global context. Moreover, the well-known music streaming providers would normally serve the Swiss market from abroad. They are therefore often not very familiar with the local music.

It would also be desirable for the state government “from a cultural policy perspective that Swiss music is better represented in the future, especially in the playlists of streaming platforms”.

Previous attempts were unsuccessful

Lorenz Haas, Managing Director of IFPI Switzerland, specifically evaluated the ‘New Music Friday’ playlist in 2022. Spotify releases country-specific versions of this playlist for virtually all countries in Europe, which typically feature a varying number of local artists. Depending on the week, only 5 to 10 percent of Swiss local artists were represented. In countries such as Belgium (20 percent) or the Netherlands (49 percent) this share is considerably higher.

Müller-Altermatt does not believe the streaming platforms will move without pressure. Long-term and extensive efforts on the part of Swiss music makers and rights holders have not resulted in the companies setting up a branch with employees in Switzerland.

But that would be necessary to take Swiss music sufficiently into account. The National Council of the Center is particularly confident that it will reflect the different parts of the country and the different languages.

Source:Blick