Abstract

This paper provides evidence that legislation in support of contemporary musical creative work, in force since 1967, has not encouraged the production of new works of contemporary music, partly due to the lack of sufficient financing. The Italian Parliament is currently considering a bill introduced by the Prodi government in 1997 for new legislation on musical activity, ranging from state support for «popular music» to making the promotion of «serious» contemporary Italian music a priority. It does not seem likely that this bill will become law. This leads to the observation that the ministerial regulation currently being drafted providing support for composers has great innovative potential.