Protesting the Soaring Music Costs at Saxon Christmas Markets
In a show of defiance against escalating music fees, certain Christmas markets in Saxony decided to go silent on Monday. This action was not limited to Leipzig alone, but also included operators of the Augustusmarkt, the Advent market on Neumarkt, the Romantic Christmas market on Taschenberg, and the Canaletto market in Pirna (district of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains). These markets participated in the nationwide "Day of Silence," held in Dresden. The Dresden Striezelmarkt, as well, planned to stay silent for a few hours. There was no music or live performances during this time frame.
As market manager Walter Ebert from Leipzig explained, "We want to stay in contact with Gema and not be fobbed off across the board." The fees have surged up to 1000 percent overnight. The market office had reached an agreement with the Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights (Gema) for the 2022 Christmas market. Now, the fee claim amounts to around 18,000 euros, which is nearly half of the original claim. Until the last Christmas market in 2019, the fee had cost only around 2,900 euros. As of now, no claim has been made for the 2022 Christmas market.
Fees are now calculated based on the total event area, regardless of the actual sound coverage area, as Steffen Rietzschel, the head of the Office of Economic Development, stated in a press release. "Stage programs with live music or sound from a tape recorder can no longer be financed in this way," he added. In 2022, the fee for these markets amounted to around 10,000 euros, which is double the amount from previous years.
Gema, the music rights administrator, has faced criticism over the fee increase accusing it of exaggerating the assessment basis since 2011. "Some large, high-turnover markets have reported areas that are clearly too small," said Gema board member Georg Oeller. Gema has not inspected the total area of the markets until 2022 but relied on the accurate registration of Christmas market operators in recent years.
As of 2022, Gema has sent around 3,350 invoices to Christmas market operators across Germany, leading to higher fees in 167 cases, some even surpassing five-digit figures.
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- The Christmas markets in Saxony, such as Leipzig, Saxon Switzerland, and Dresden, experienced a significant increase in music fees, leading to silence protests.
- The Municipalities of Pirna and other areas in Saxony joined the silent protest, aiming to negotiate a more affordable deal with Musikmarkt-GmbH on behalf of the Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights (Gema).
- The Christmas markets in Saxony, including Leipzig's Neumarkt, have historically maintained modest music-related fees, but now the fees have significantly escalated, putting a strain on their budgets and impacting their ability to provide live music for visitors.
- To tackle this issue, the Saxon Minister of Economics, Sabine von Schmiede, organized a roundtable discussion with representatives from the music and event industries, as well as municipalities, aiming to find a solution that caters to both performers and event organizers.
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