The Swedish dance bands are once again raging against what they perceive as a punitive assessment.
This is because the dance audience has to pay higher VAT on the ticket than concertgoers.
Now they are appealing to the politicians to start seeing the dance bands as culture.
– If dancing isn’t culture, then I don’t know what culture is, says Olle Jönsson, singer in Lasse Stefanz.
TV4 Nyheterna meets the dance band legends before a gig in Ullared, Halland. Thanks to the fact that the audience here has bought a dinner menu and will remain seated, the lower cultural VAT of six percent applies to the ticket. But if it had been dancing instead, the VAT would have ended up at 25 percent.
– I think it’s wrong. It’s big money at stake. And the audience doesn’t know the difference, it’s the organizer and us as a band who have to “face” it, says Olle Jönsson.
The dance band fight is far from new – already in the 1990s and in the early 2000s, band buses rode in caravans and protested at the Riksdag.
The dance band rebellion demonstrates outside the Riksdag in 2000
The dance band rebellion demonstrates outside the Riksdag in 2000
Photo: TT/Archive
After the pandemic that was so devastating for the industry, a new attempt is now being made to influence the politicians. In a joint appeal, they demand that dance music is also seen as culture and receives the same ticket VAT as concerts.
– I think we are culture to the highest degree. Because if dancing isn’t culture, I don’t know what culture is, says Olle Jönsson.
Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand does not want to do an interview, but says via her press secretary that she wants to invite the industry to talks later this fall.