Imagine if the government gave record companies over $ 5 million a year to spend on A&R. In Italy, this is already the case.

The recording industry in Italy is having a monumental year.

Recorded revenue from the country’s music business increased 34.3% to 128.7 million euros (approximately $ 150 million) in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020.

It wasn’t just because of a favorable comparison of physical sales versus the 2020 pandemic: Italy’s commercial revenue from streaming alone in the first half of 2021 grew 27.2% year on year. on the other, according to FIMI / Deloitte data.

The country’s recorded music industry is now poised to comfortably generate over a quarter of a billion dollars this year.

The predominance of Italian artists is remarkable: the full Top 13 of the Italian national albums charts for the first half of 2021 consisted of Italian – and Italian-language – acts, according to FIMI / GFK data.

This album chart was led by Sangiovanni with his eponymous LP, while the biggest non-Italian participant was After hours by The Weeknd at # 14.

The entire Top 10 ranking of Italian singles for the first half of 2021 was too composed of pieces from Italian acts, led to n ° 1 by Colapesce and Dimartino’s Musica Leggerissima.

And then, of course, there’s MÃ¥neskin.

The most successful Italian artist of the streaming age, the group – which gained international fame after their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in May – currently have more than 40 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

They saw their hit cover of To start top 625 million worldwide streams on Spotify, while two other hits (I WANT TO BE YOUR SLAVE and ZITTI AND BUONI) have over 600 million games between them on the platform.

The world has certainly noticed Italy’s major league musical success in 2021 – as has, of course, the Italian government.

MBW has confirmed that the Italian government this month confirmed a new tax relief package for the Italian recorded music market.

This record label tax credit scheme – issued by the Italian Ministry of Culture – will cover the expenses of national record companies (including majors) up to 30% of a total cost of € 250,000 per album (i.e. € 75,000 in tax credits per disc).

Each record company will have a maximum of € 800,000 in tax credits (approximately $ 930 million) to claim over a three-year period.

This money can be claimed for recording, mixing, video making, copyright payment / license fees, and other A&R expenses.

The Italian government has agreed to make a total amount of tax credits of 5 million euros per year (approximately $ 5.8 million) available to record companies from 2021.

This new tax credit replaces the old version of the Italian government, which was limited to the only first record created by new talent, with a ceiling of € 200,000 per company per year.

An annual tax credit of € 5 million for A&R from the Italian government is a significant commitment to the recording industry.

“The Italian government has agreed to make a total tax credit amount of 5 million euros per year (approximately $ 5.8 million) available to record companies from 2021.”

For example, Italy’s annual GDP is currently estimated at US $ 2.16 trillion by the IMF, which is 48% less than that of the United Kingdom ($ 3,124 billion) and 976% less than that of the United Kingdom. from the United States ($ 22.6 trillion).

On this basis, Italy’s latest tax credit deal is the equivalent of the UK government giving its record industry $ 8.6 million in annual tax breaks, and the equivalent of the US government giving its record industry roughly $ 63 million.

Enzo Mazza is CEO of the Italian recorded music trade body FIMI, which lobbied the Italian government on behalf of the recording industry for the latest tax relief deal.

“This is a major achievement for labels,” he says of the tax credit program, which was recently authorized by the European Commission after being submitted by the Italian government.

Mazza told MBW: “The new program recognizes the important role music labels play in discovering and training new artists in Italy by increasing the budget and expanding the reach.

“The new program recognizes the important role that music labels play in discovering and training new artists in Italy. “

Enzo Mazza, FIMI

“The investment of majors and independents in new Italian artists is demonstrated by the large share of local artists in the [H1 2021] graphics. “

Mazza believes MÃ¥neskin’s global rise is proof of a “new generation of Italian artists climbing the charts” – and proof that the Italian government is getting a return on its investment in the local recorded music market .

He adds: “The investment made by Sony Music in Måneskin [in Italy] was helped by the old version of the government backed music tax credit in 2019. ”Music trade around the world