Here in Italy the goverment grants for entertainment and music are more and more lower. Mr berlusconi goverment (luckily gone) has lowered it from € 516 million in 2001 to € 375 million in 2006. The new government told that in 2007 the national grant will be increased until the 2001 level. Musicians wait and pray.
Now I read that in France the grants are € 901 million (about 3 times with respect to present Italy’s grants), and € 745 million in UK. To find a grant equal than our, you must look at the little Denmark that spend € 344 million for the music, but has a population of 5.400.000 (1/10 than Italy).
The new issue of the Finnish Music Quarterly reveals that the Finnish government is spending € 359.5 million on the arts this year, of which 60.5 million goes to music. This grant has been described as inadequate and the Prime Minister has signed a law stipulating that orchestra subsidies should increase by 37% per year over the next 3 years. The Finnish population is about 5.000.000.