The scope of the CMA's investigation into music streaming has been published. Its investigation is part of a broader government-led consideration of digital markets. For music streaming, two of the key concerns raised by the government's Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee's report on the Economics of Music Streaming (15 July 2021) were the dominance of the major music companies and that artists received only a small portion of revenue. Those two concerns were raised by politicians 30 years ago which led to the competition authority report into the Supply of Recorded Music (1992).
That report resulted in no regulatory or legislative intervention, not least because concerns that Compact Discs (remember them!) were too expensive were not proven. A company clearly relevant to the CMA's investigation is Spotify. In its brief history it has rarely made a profit, and such profits are very thin compared to total revenues. It will be interesting to see how that economic fact is connected to the statement that artists are receiving a small portion of revenue generated by music streaming.Disclaimer
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