Poland’s ruling party has proposed legislation requiring 80% of music played on radio stations during the day to be Polish. It says this will help support domestic musicians who have been seen concert revenues plummet during the pandemic.
Outlining the plans in parliament on Thursday, Marek Suski – a senior lawmaker from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party – said that the 80% requirement would apply between 5 a.m. and midnight.
Moreover, at least half of content at all times across the whole month would need to be Polish, up from the current threshold of 33%, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
That would make it the highest such quota in Europe, above France’s 40%, which has been repeatedly cited by PiS as an example to follow. “In other countries, [quotas] do not prevent commercial stations from functioning,” said Suski. “I don’t see any reason why in Poland it would be a catastrophe.”