An initial report by the Competition and Markets Authority (or CMA for short) has concluded that the music streaming industry isn’t harming consumers, despite only a handful of key players such as Spotify and Apple Music dominating the music streaming market.
The competition watchdog has found that “neither labels nor streaming services appear to be making sustained excess profits”, despite the concentrated streaming market and with only three major record labels in the recorded music sector.
On the contrary, the CMA has said that the market is “delivering good outcomes for consumers''. This challenges the initial suspicion that the sector was not working in the best interest of British consumers, taking advantage of the UK’s “love affair” with music.
This finding also has a knock-on effect for artists, who have long voiced their issues with royalties and unfair payments on music streaming platforms. This verdict actually may play in favour of the streaming services, as the allegations that they are excessively profiting by underpaying artists appear to be disproved by this investigation.
However, interim chief of the CMA, Sarah Cardell, says that there are still concerns over artists’ treatment even if consumers are being treated fairly. With the study continuing to receive feedback until 19th August, there may still be changes to the final report yet.
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