Music

UK’s competition watchdog to launch probe into music streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music


The UK’s competition watchdog is launching a study examining the “radical changes” streaming has inflicted on the music industry.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will undertake a market study to investigate whether there is sufficient competition among major platforms including Spotify and Apple Music for them to work in the best interests of consumers.

It will seek to establish what is and isn’t working for consumers, and may lead to the authors making recommendations to the Government to change how music streaming is regulated or the public policy around it.

Similarly, the CMA may encourage the platforms to self-regulate, open a secondary in-depth investigation or take legal action against firms it believes have failed to protect consumer interests.

The study is launched in the wake of MPs calling on the CMA to investigate what they deemed the “pitiful returns” that musicians and songwriters receive from the likes of Spotify in July, demanding a “complete reset” of the business to properly compensate artists.

However, the industry warned that requiring streaming platforms to pay artists more could harm those who have benefited from the exposure streaming has afforded them, including underground rap and grime stars.

“Over the past decade, the music industry has evolved almost beyond recognition, with streaming now accounting for more than 80 per cent of all music listened to in this country,” said Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA.

“A market study will help us to understand these radical changes and build a view as to whether competition in this sector is working well or whether further action needs to be taken.”

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said it welcomed the study into the music streaming market, adding that it looked forward to seeing the scope of the project in due course and engaging with the CMA to inform its work.

The UK’s top 10 streaming artists in 2020 each achieved over half a billion streams in the UK alone, according to the BPI, but 8,000 acts exceed more than one million streams annually, demonstrating how streaming has allowed many more artists to access distribution platforms.



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