Your commercial news round: EU trade, Formula 1, John Lewis, Spotify

The EU has set out plans to impose trade countermeasures on the US and a first-of-its-kind partnership deal has been announced between BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team and Viagogo. John Lewis has seen a rise in profits but has decided not to bring back the staff bonus, and Spotify has reported a record-high year for music industry payments. Read on to find out more!

• Following US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, which came into effect on Wednesday 12 March, the EU has set out plans to impose trade “countermeasures” on US goods worth up to £22 billion. The 25% US levies on global imports of steel and aluminium have been described as “unjustified” by EU president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The countermeasures are due to come into force from 1 April and include Brussels reestablishing tariffs on US goods such as bourbon whiskey and Harley-Davidson motorbikes. The UK is yet to announce any measures in response to the tariffs on metals but Prime Minister Kier Starmer has expressed his “disappointment” regarding the tariffs, while saying he’ll “take a pragmatic approach”.
   
• An unprecedented partnership deal between BWT Alpine Formula 1 Team and Viagogo will enable fans worldwide to purchase Formula 1 tickets via the ticket marketplace, with the French racing team making its own race-day ticket allocation available for general sale. Speaking to the Sports Industry Group, Alpine’s Team Principal Oliver Oakes called the partnership with Viagogo “an exciting step”. Oakes added: “By making tickets more accessible through a safe and trusted platform, we’re ensuring more supporters can experience the thrill of race day firsthand.” Viagogo, which is accessible in 195 countries and 33 languages, will also have its brand visible across the Enstone-based Formula 1 team’s garage, hospitality areas and digital platform from the start of the 2025 racing season.
   
• John Lewis’ profits have risen by 73% to £97 million. However, the employee-owned retail partnership hasn’t restored its staff bonus, which was scrapped in 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic, stating that it’ll invest in pay instead. John Lewis has 69,000 employees and earlier this month announced a 7.4% pay rise for shop workers. A source from John Lewis said that there aren’t any thresholds for the bonus and that it’ll return "when the time is right". Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Allen explained that the rise in employer National Insurance (NI) will have impacted pay and bonus decisions. Last year, John Lewis was one of the signatories of a letter to the government, which stated that the rise in NI costs would make high-street job losses “inevitable”.
   
• In 2024, Spotify paid the music industry £7.7 billion, which it stated was the highest annual payment from any single retailer in history. However, the debate over the amount of royalties that artists and songwriters receive continues. Earlier this year, several Grammy nominated songwriters boycotted a Spotify awards event in a disagreement about streaming rights. Meanwhile, a survey by the International Artist Organisation found that 70% of musicians were unhappy with streaming revenue. Taylor Swift was previously part of this debate, boycotting Spotify in 2014. However, she eventually rejoined in 2017, and this year was named Spotify's top artist. The platform commented: “Spotify does not pay artists or songwriters directly. We pay rights-holders, these are typically record labels, music publishers, collection societies. These rights-holders then pay artists and songwriters based on their individual agreements." The British recorded music industry’s trade association, the British Phonographic Industry, noted the average royalty rate for UK artists signed to major labels was around 26%, according to a 2021 study from the Competition and Markets Authority. Findings also showed that three times more artists generated annual royalties between £770 and £77,1870 since 2017.

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