Leftist SYRIZA this week tabled an unprecedented amendment in Parliament which, if passed, would mandate that radio stations in Greece devote a whopping 40 percent of their airtime to music exclusively produced by Greek performers and artists.
The amendment, which has little to no chance of being approved by a Parliament majority, would dictate to private radio stations licensed in the country that they play material by Greek creators in nearly half their program, in a bid to funnel airtime royalties to the now coronavirus-battered sector via the Organization of Collective Management for music artists. The reasoning, according to SYRIZA, is that only a fraction of live performances and concerts were held in 2020, and have now been cancelled for the near future.
The amendment makes no distinction between music stations and all-news, all-talk providers, or even the type of music a station plays or even a station’s ownership composition. For instance, if passed, the Metropolis of Piraeus’ ecclesiastical radio station would be forced to play music during 40 percent of its program – ostensibly Christian Orthodox themed, but only by Greek artists. The same would apply to municipalities’ radio stations.
Radical leftist SYRIZA, in power from 2015 – Greece’s annus horribilis – to the summer of 2019, today comprises the main opposition party in Greece’s Parliament.
The strange and authoritarian amendment was tabled as a rider to a culture ministry-related draft bill, a day after another SYRIZA draft amendment was hastily withdrawn.
The other amendment veered in the opposite direction, calling for an extraordinary and one-off monthly bonus to be paid to law enforcement personnel in the country. After stepped up reactions by SYRIZA deputies, it was withdrawn.
