France subsidizing downloads for youth

In a continued effort to support the music industry, France has launched a new program to subsidize legal music consumption by young people. Under the newly launched program, French citizens between the ages of 12 and 25 will be able to purchase a prepaid card usable on subscription-based music websites. The card will come with â¬50 worth of credit, but customers only have to pay â¬25 with the difference being provided for by taxpayers.

The plan is specifically designed to encourage diverse subscription services, by limiting the amount of money any single company can generate to â¬5 million. Ars Technica provides more analysis here.