Additional funds would allow artists to produce contents of better quality, would increase competition in the business. Besides, such a practice is already in place in other countries, including Lithuanian’s neighbors.
“We estimate that following the proposed amendments, Lithuanian creators and performers would earn 1 million euros more from the use of their song by radio stations,” Stackevičius told a press conference on Thursday.
In his words, radio stations are unlikely to experience a deficit of Lithuanian songs as around 7,000 new songs are registered every year, or around 20 every day.
“We are not reinventing the bicycle here as many countries have already made similar decisions. For example, radio stations in neighboring Poland already allocate a third of their air to local musicians. The Estonians did that several years ago, and they have 25 percent. The same thing is in France, Portugal, Slovenia, Canada,”
A group of Lithuanian lawmakers is proposing to set a quota for radio stations to give a third of their air time to Lithuania-produced contents.