Techno counts as music, German court rules, as it approves tax breaks for concerts

 Fans never doubted it, but now a top German court has confirmed it: techno is music and clubs should benefit from the same reduced sales tax rate as concert halls

Germany’s highest financial court has ruled that people go to Berlin’s techno clubs primarily to appreciate the music and not to enjoy the clubs’ notorious cocktail of alcohol, dancing and anonymous sex.

The judges at the federal court were convinced that techno and house nights are concerts rather than parties, meaning clubs such as the world-famous Berghain will qualify for special tax breaks such as those enjoyed by the Berlin Philharmonic.

In its ruling, the court noted that a techno night isn’t all about musical appreciation. “As well as the stages, there are bars, seating areas and so-called ‘dark rooms’,” the ruling states, referring to the pitch black areas set aside for people to have sexual interactions with strangers.

But the judges also recognised that “even if it is not possible to watch the music from everywhere, due to the volume it is unquestionably possible to hear it.”

They found that, unlike in a disco, techno DJs were involved in a creative process due to the fact that they altered and created sounds using synthesizes, mixing decks and other devices. The ruling means that techno clubs will in the future be able to pay a reduced VAT of seven per cent as a concert venue, rather than the 19 per cent they have been paying as events venues.

The ruling will come as a relief to Berlin’s nightlife scene, which was struggling to cope with rising rents in the city even before the corona pandemic forced clubs to shut in March.

The techno scene flourished in empty warehouses and cellars in the empty spaces between east and west Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 1990s.

In the past two decades it has become professionalised, with multi-floor venues like Berghain attracting DJs, techno fans and partygoers from across the globe.