On 27 January 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) officially launched a market study into the music and streaming market, publishing a Market Study Notice along with a Statement of Scope (“Statement”).
The Statement outlines the areas the CMA intends to investigate to determine whether competition is working as it should in the market. These include:
- The nature of competition at different levels of the value chain, including the extent to which music companies and music streaming platforms may have market power;
- Possible barriers to entry and expansion which may be faced by new entrant music companies and music streaming services; and
- The inter-relationships and agreements between music companies and music streaming services and whether they impact upon competition, innovation, and consumer outcomes.
The CMA is consulting on the Statement, with a deadline for responses of 17 February 2022. The Statement can be found here here.
Updates will be published on the CMA case page.
Please contact Tim Cowen if you have any questions relating to the market study.