The Federal Council will consider streaming rules if there is no industry deal by mid-2027

The Federal Council wants to consider regulating streaming services if the current negotiations fail. It said so on 2 September 2026 in its reply to interpellation 26.3720 by Ernst Wandfluh.¹ Its assessment: ‘Wenige internationale Streaming-Plattformen beherrschen dabei einen Grossteil des Marktes.’ (a few international streaming platforms dominate a large part of the market)¹

Streaming services and the Swiss music industry are negotiating an industry agreement, led by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC).¹ On 26 August 2026, the Federal Council had already proposed accepting six identical motions on the visibility of Swiss music and set a deadline: if no satisfactory agreement is reached by mid-2027, legislative measures would have to be considered.¹²

The Federal Council leaves remuneration aside: ‘Fragen im Zusammenhang mit der Vergütung sollen zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt zwischen den Stakeholdern thematisiert werden.’ (questions of remuneration are to be addressed by the stakeholders at a later date)¹

What this means in practice: According to the Federal Council, the core of the negotiations is the visibility of Swiss music on the platforms.¹ According to the motions, which works get heard depends above all on recommendation systems and playlists.² Yet the Federal Council noted as early as 2023 that the vast majority of Swiss musicians earn no significant income from streams.¹ The interpellation has been closed since 2 October 2026, and no debate in the council was requested.³ Parliament has not yet decided on the motions.² The next date is mid-2027.