The U.K. Government has referred the major music groups to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a market study on the economic impact of their dominance, following a recommendation from the recently published streaming report.
Released in July, the damning report, compiled by the DCMS Select Committee with evidence from across the British music industry, concluded that artists need a legal right to a fairer share of streaming revenues and called for a "complete reset."
The Government has called the report “a key moment for the music industry.” In response to its recommendation for equitable remuneration for performers on streaming income, the Government will soon publish research on creators’ earnings in the digital age, corroborating evidence given to the Committee that contractual arrangements between performers, labels and platforms appear to disadvantage some players in the streaming environment.
On copyright, the Government agreed that rightsholders should be properly remunerated for works used and shared online by user-generated content platforms such as YouTube and recognized the difficulties rightsholders faced given the complexity of licensing negotiations.
