CMA concludes study on music streaming market, addresses concerns from creators

The Competition and Markets Authority published its final report on the music streaming market on Tuesday and said that it is of the opinion that consumers have benefited from the digitisation and competition between music services.

According to the CMA, prices for consumers have fallen by more than 20% in real terms between 2009 and 2021 – with many services also offering music streaming for free with ads. The study also found that there were roughly 39.0m monthly listeners in the UK, streaming 138.0bn times per annum.

The CMA also heard concerns from artists and songwriters about how much they earn from streaming and stated that while it understands concerns from creators about the level of income many receive, its study suggested that it was "unlikely" that an intervention would release additional money into the system to pay creators more.

However, the study did highlight that issues raised by creators could be further considered by Downing Street as part of ongoing work following the DCMS Select Committee's inquiry into the economics of music streaming.

CMA interim chief executive Sarah Cardell said: "Streaming has transformed how music fans access vast catalogues of music, providing a valuable platform for artists to reach new listeners quickly, and at a price for consumers that has declined in real terms over the years. However, we heard from many artists and songwriters across the UK about how they struggle to make a decent living from these services. These are understandable concerns, but our findings show that these are not the result of ineffective competition - and intervention by the CMA would not release more money into the system that would help artists or songwriters.

"While this report marks the end of the CMA's market study, which addresses the concerns previously posed about competition, we also hope the detailed and evidence-based picture we have been able to build of this relatively new sector will provide a basis that can be used by policymakers to consider whether additional action is needed to help creators."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com