Deezer shares fell 6.4% this week after France’s National Assembly accredited a 1.2% tax on streaming income on Tuesday (Dec. 19). The new tax, which is supposed to assist native cultural applications, taxes impact in January and will probably be owed on prime of current tax obligations.
Deezer CEO Jeronimo Folgueira known as the tax “the worst possible outcome of all the different scenarios” the corporate confronted from the French authorities. “Adding taxes is the worst way of trying to support the industry,” he instructed Billboard. France is Deezer’s residence and largest market, accounting for roughly 60% of its income within the first 9 months of 2023, in response to the corporate’s newest earnings report.
Spotify instantly pulled sponsorship assist for 2 native music festivals to assist offset the extra tax burden. France is just not as essential to Spotify as to Deezer, nonetheless, and the brand new tax was in all probability not an element within the 1.3% decline in Spotify’s share value this week. Spotify can be much more affected if different international locations adopted France’s lead — a risk raised by Deezer’s Folgueira. “It sets a very dangerous precedent for other markets,” he warned.
SiriusXM buyers have been unfazed by the information that the New York lawyer basic’s workplace had sued the corporate for allegedly making clients undergo a “burdensome” cancellation course of. The satellite tv for pc radio firm’s inventory completed the week up 1.3% to $5.47 regardless of a lawsuit that alleges SiriusXM “deliberately wastes its subscribers’ time even though it has the ability to process cancellations with the click of a button.” The firm stated it can “vigorously defend against these baseless allegations” that “grossly mischaracterize” its practices.
The Billboard Global Music Index fell 0.3% to 1,517.98, reducing its year-to-date acquire to 30.0%. Nine of the index’s 20 shares posted good points this week; 11 shares ended the week in detrimental territory.
Shares of streaming firm LiveOne gained 10% to $2.21 after the corporate on Tuesday (Dec. 19) raised its steerage for income for its fiscal yr ended March 31, 2024, to a spread of $118 million to $120 million, up from $105 million to $110 million. The firm additionally stated that it’s finalizing a restructuring of its merchandising enterprise, first introduced on Dec. 14, that can cut back headcount by 75 to 100 staffers and lead to $5 million to $10 million of price financial savings.
Three different firms within the Billboard Global Music Index posted good points of 5% or extra this week. Sphere Entertainment Co. rose 5.4% to $34.32. Warner Music Group improved 5.1% to $35.29. And Okay-pop firm SM Entertainment gained 5% to 90,100 gained ($69.32).
Major indexes fared higher than music shares as buyers reacted positively to Friday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve that U.S. costs rose lower than anticipated in November. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite gained 1.2% to 14,992.97 and the S&P 500 improved 0.8% to 4,754.63. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 rose 1.6% to 7,697.51, whereas South Korea’s KOSPI composite index climbed 1.4% to 2,599.51.
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