Music-streaming services have been campaigning hard in the last two years against a levy on their Canadian revenues by the country’s telecommunications regulator the CRTC, to fund local content and creators.
The DSPs and their industry body DiMA were furious about what they called the ‘streaming tax’, which required them to make a “base contribution” of 5% of their revenues in Canada.
Well, we can only imagine how much more furious they’re going to be this week, given the CRTC’s latest announcement.
Its updated rules will see all broadcasters (traditional and online alike) with annual Canadian revenues above $25m making “meaningful contributions” to the system. “Online broadcasters will contribute 15%, which includes their existing 5% base contribution,” added the regulator.
Update: The 15% rate only applies to ‘audio-visual’ content for now – think Netflix and co – rather than to audio-streaming services. We understand the tariff for those remains under review. If it also rises, expect the music DSPs to take up arms again.
They may have something else to protest about too: the CRTC is also planning to set “clear expectations for the discoverability of Canadian and Indigenous content so that it is made available and visible to audiences” as part of its regulatory regime.
This story was updated on 26 May to reflect the fact that the increase to 15% applies only to audio-visual services for now.
