Those too busy looking forward to hump day yesterday may have missed the fact that the 2015 Federal Budget dropped last night. While everyone is formulating their opinions or pretending to have one, we’ve gone ahead and taken a look at what Budget 2015 will mean for Aussie music.

Arguably the biggest impact comes in a diversion of $104 million in funds from the Australia Council to the Arts Ministry. As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, the government announced last night that it would establish a new National Programme for Excellence in the Arts.

Funding of $104.7 million will be spread over four years and will “deliver on a number of government priorities including providing national access to quality arts and cultural experiences”. It will be administered by the Ministry for the Arts in Senator George Brandis’ Attorney-General’s Department.

Responsibility for the Major Festivals Initiative and the Festivals Australia program will also be redirected from the Australia Council to the Ministry of Arts, who will also see $7.2 million in efficiency savings over four years to 2018-19.

The combined cuts represent represent an annual funding reduction of around 13 percent to the notion’s principal arts and funding body, which has an annual budget of $230 million. It remains to be seen just what kind of impact the redirection of funds will have on arts grants in Australia.

The other most notable impact lies in what’s been dubbed the ‘Netflix Tax’, which Tone Deaf detailed back in April. While the term has already lodged itself in the Aussie lexicon, many may still be unfamiliar with just what the tax applies to and when it will take effect.

As Gizmodo notes, the Netflix Tax isn’t a new tax, but rather an extension of the GST to cover “cross border supplies of digital products and services imported by consumers”. Basically, the GST will now apply to anything you can download to a tablet, smartphone, or e-book reader.

This includes music, movies, e-books, digital magazines, and anything streamed, so expect a price rise in your Netflix account from 1st July 2017, assuming the relevant legislation is passed. The tax is predicted to net $350 million, which will be distributed to the states.

Your Spotify account will not be affected as the service has paid GST since launching in Australia. “We can confirm that Spotify pays GST in Australia and has done so since launch,” reads an official statement from the company provided to Tone Deaf.

The reason for the tax is to effectively level the playing field between local businesses and overseas businesses. Under current law, digital products and services imported into Australia are not subject to the GST, resulting in foregone GST revenue and placing local businesses at a tax disadvantage.

As The Motley Fool notes, the measure got its namesake because Netflix charges Australian consumers around 10 percent less than domestic competitors Stan and Presto, the equivalent of not charging its users GST. iTunes and Google Play will not be affected by the tax as they already charge GST.

When the measure was first proposed back in April it quickly received criticism, particularly from consumer advocacy group Choice, who said that the government should be using its energies to tackle the high domestic costs of consumer media in Australia and “encourage greater competition”.

The Netflix Tax could prove a boon to retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith, as the price differential between local and offshore digital purchases will narrow. JB Hi-Fi also have their own digital store, JB Hi-Fi Now, which offers users digital music, movies, and books.

The Federal Budget will also affect radio, particularly government broadcasters like SBS and the ABC, as well as regulators like AMCA and community stations. As Radio Today reports, the ABC will have their budget sliced to $1.084 billion from $1.113 billion, with more staff cuts slated.

SBS will have their budget shaved down to $283 million from $285 million currently, while industry regulator ACMA have received a $15 million cut, giving them $108 million to work with. The Department of Communications, meanwhile, will receive a $2 million increase to $9 million.

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The Federal Government’s support for community radio has been cut to $16.8 million from $17.3 million, with the sector’s peak industry body, the CBAA, indicating that the Administered Program Indexation Pause for the sector was disappointing news.

“If the pause continues, the Government risks the slow demise of some in our sector, which contributes so much to the cultural life of Australia,” said Community Broadcasting Association of Australia President, Adrian Basso.

“Community stations, particularly the two thirds of community radio stations that operate in regional and remote areas, cannot absorb the pause forever and, over time, this will see services lost.”

“The social and cultural impacts of this loss would include a reduction in the creation of unique local content and services which support community identities and social inclusion, reduced media diversity and a diminished voice for communities not adequately serviced by other media.”

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