{"id":88362,"date":"2021-10-19T12:04:14","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T11:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=88362"},"modified":"2021-12-07T11:05:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T11:05:09","slug":"uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/","title":{"rendered":"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2><span style=\"color:#3366FF\"> Big music companies watch out \u2013 the CMA is considering competition in the music industry. How fair is music streaming?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Do the <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/is-streaming-biased-towards-major-labels\/\">biggest UK record labels<\/a> control music streaming? We might be about to find out. Off the back of this year\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/music-streaming-inquiry-uk\/\">UK streaming inquiry<\/a>, the Competition and Markets Authority watchdog is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/cma-plans-probe-into-music-streaming-market\">planning a market study<\/a> of fairness in music streaming in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CMA\u2019s ultimate goal is to increase competition in the digital music industry \u2013 a market that economically hasn\u2019t moved with the times since the age of CDs, and seems to be <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/record-labels-keep-half-of-all-profits-from-music-streaming-and-nile-rodgers-is-calling-for-clarity\/\">dominated by the biggest record labels<\/a> in the UK and around the world: Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music. The study won\u2019t look directly at streaming services like Spotify, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3>What happens now?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/music-streaming-inquiry-uk\/\">Last we checked,<\/a> the UK government had referred <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/major-uk-music-label-executives-challenged-on-the-economics-of-music-streaming\/\">major music groups<\/a> to the CMA, requesting a market study. The board has now agreed the findings warrant further scrutiny, and the next steps will be laid out for the study to get going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/CMAgovUK\/status\/1450351240047648768\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The study will look at whether or not the <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/the-big-3-warner-sony-universal-now-have-joint-labels-with-tencent\/\">Big Three labels<\/a> and other major music groups have an unfair monopoly over the music industry in the UK at the expense of independent artists and consumers. The key will be to make sure they operate &#8220;in a way that promotes innovation and the consumer interest.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CMA is giving the project priority and it will be the next market study they launch. After all, as the music streaming industry continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/is-pandora-still-popular\/\">grow<\/a>, any problems will only get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chief Executive of the CMA Andrea Coscelli informed the <a href=\"https:\/\/committees.parliament.uk\/committee\/378\/digital-culture-media-and-sport-committee\/\">Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee<\/a> of the decision <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/letter-from-andrea-coscelli-to-julia-lopez-mp-julian-knight-mp-and-george-freeman-mp-on-music-streaming\">in a letter<\/a>. The DCMS started the parliamentary inquiry into the <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/do-the-economics-of-music-streaming-mean-even-established-musicians-cant-pay-the-rent\/\">economics of music streaming<\/a> late last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement Coscelli said: \u201cThe UK has a love affair with music and is home to many of the world\u2019s most popular artists. We want to do everything we can to ensure that this sector is competitive, thriving and works in the interests of music lovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOver the past decade, the music industry has evolved almost beyond recognition, with streaming now accounting for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bpi.co.uk\/news-analysis\/fans-turn-to-music-to-get-through-2020-as-a-new-wave-of-artists-fuels-streaming-growth\/\">more than 80%<\/a> of all music listened to in this country. A market study will help us to understand these radical <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/music-streamings-percentage-of-us-music-revenues-2005-2020\/\">changes <\/a>and build a view as to whether competition in this sector is working well or whether further action needs to be taken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3>Will the study change the UK music industry? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The market study will look for and flag up any issues with competition between <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/apple-music-spotify-and-amazon-open-to-helping-artists-earn-more-from-streaming\/\">music companies<\/a>. Unless the study finds the industry to have a \u201cclean bill of health,\u201d the CMA said it could wind up recommending changes in policy to the government, or push for music businesses to regulate themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other outcomes might involve taking competition law enforcement action against music firms, or simply using the findings to build evidence for a new, deeper investigation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any changes could affect not just the <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/top-musicians-want-streaming-pay-revolution\/\">UK music industry<\/a> but the global music world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/routenote.com\">Whilst it\u2019s still early days, this is the next step on a journey we\u2019ll be keeping a close eye on, hoping the balance tips in favour of the independent artists and labels we work with at RouteNote.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Big music companies watch out \u2013 the CMA will consider competition in the music industry, and how fair music streaming is for artists and consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":88363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4683,2443],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator - RouteNote Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator - RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Big music companies watch out \u2013 the CMA will consider competition in the music industry, and how fair music streaming is for artists and consumers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-19T11:04:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-07T11:05:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Madeleine Amos\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RouteNote\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"RouteNote\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"RouteNote Blog\",\"description\":\"The World of Digital Music - Distribution - Stores and Free Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"bass guitar player\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/\",\"name\":\"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator - RouteNote Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-19T11:04:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-07T11:05:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/681c9fd50fd43a10dc30b10cb5e87667\"},\"headline\":\"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-19T11:04:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-07T11:05:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":561,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"copyright\",\"royalties\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Digital Music News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/681c9fd50fd43a10dc30b10cb5e87667\",\"name\":\"Madeleine Amos\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/995af743aeac7c643564c9567ab0caa6?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/995af743aeac7c643564c9567ab0caa6?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Madeleine Amos\"},\"description\":\"I write about music for RouteNote, sharing fun stuff, news, and tips and tricks for musicians and producers. Also a saxophonist and hater of marmalade.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/author\/maddi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator - RouteNote Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator - RouteNote Blog","og_description":"Big music companies watch out \u2013 the CMA will consider competition in the music industry, and how fair music streaming is for artists and consumers.","og_url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/","og_site_name":"RouteNote Blog","article_published_time":"2021-10-19T11:04:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-12-07T11:05:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Madeleine Amos","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"RouteNote","url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/","sameAs":[],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"RouteNote"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/","name":"RouteNote Blog","description":"The World of Digital Music - Distribution - Stores and Free Music","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"bass guitar player"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/","name":"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator - RouteNote Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-10-19T11:04:14+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-07T11:05:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#webpage"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/681c9fd50fd43a10dc30b10cb5e87667"},"headline":"Music streaming market in the UK to be probed by competition regulator","datePublished":"2021-10-19T11:04:14+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-07T11:05:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#webpage"},"wordCount":561,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg","keywords":["copyright","royalties"],"articleSection":["Digital Music News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/uk-music-streaming-market-competition-regulator\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/681c9fd50fd43a10dc30b10cb5e87667","name":"Madeleine Amos","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/995af743aeac7c643564c9567ab0caa6?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/995af743aeac7c643564c9567ab0caa6?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Madeleine Amos"},"description":"I write about music for RouteNote, sharing fun stuff, news, and tips and tricks for musicians and producers. Also a saxophonist and hater of marmalade.","url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/author\/maddi\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/uk-music-streaming.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}