23 Swedish dance bands rage against what they consider to be unfair treatment of their music genre. In a debate article on The Express they believe that dance band culture is subjected to discrimination by Swedish parliament politicians, and point to the higher VAT rate applied to their events as an example of this “betrayal”.
The core of the problem lies in the difference in VAT that dance bands are forced to deal with. When the audience goes and dances to a dance band, the VAT is 25 percent for the entrance ticket. If, on the other hand, you go to a concert, even if it is the same dance band playing, the VAT is only 6 percent, because the concert is then considered “culture”.
This difference in treatment creates frustration among dance band musicians, who feel that their genre is treated as less valuable than other forms of music.
“The decision-makers claim that dancing to dance bands is about ‘fun’ and should not be classified as ‘culture’. But there are several factors that show the opposite,” write the representatives from the dance band industry.
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Photo: Fredrik Persson/TT
A culture on the margins
The debaters also point out that during the pandemic, dance bands were considered culture when they were granted state cultural support, just like many other artists.
But now, at a time when dance band culture had hoped to recover from the pandemic, the situation is different. Although the dance bands play at both cultural festivals and in municipal cultural centers, they are not allowed to enjoy the same advantages as other artists in terms of entrance fees.
“But when it comes to entrance fees for dance bands, where the audience doesn’t sit down but dance, the lower cultural VAT does not apply. How do you explain that?” the dance bands ask rhetorically, addressed to the responsible politicians.
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A living culture
The dance bands also believe that their music is important to many people in Sweden, especially to the younger generation. They emphasize that their events are often alcohol-free and that the modern dance performed is not only fun, but also has health-promoting effects.
“Today’s dance band culture is, for the most part, completely alcohol-free events. People meet to dance to live music. In practice, for the majority of visitors, this means several hours of movement and social fellowship,” they point out in the debate article.
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