On this week's show we discuss the €1.8 billion fine Apple has been ordered to pay by the EU following an investigation into claims of anti-competitive behaviour made by Spotify, and Live Nation's explanation of why everyone else in the music industry is to blame for rising ticket prices.
SECTION TIMES
01: Apple v Spotify (00:06:26)
02: News in brief (00:20:48)
03: Live Nation (00:25:33)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)
THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES
EU fines €1.8 billion at end of Spotify initiated competition law investigation
Apple has been fined €1.8 billion by the European Union, following an investigation into its App Store rules. The massive fine is almost four times larger than the €500 million that had been expected and is the result of a complaint filed by Spotify in 2019
Chris Cooke
Apple hits out at EU competition ruling that “ignores the realities of a market”
Apple has responded to the European Union’s ruling that its App Store rules breach competition law, hitting out at both Spotify and the European Commission, and all the meetings that Spotify has had with EC officials since first complaining about its rules around in-app payments
Chris Cooke
Live Nation says rising ticket prices definitely not its fault
As US politicians continue to discuss and consider the ticketing sector, Live Nation has published a blog post insisting that promoters and ticketing companies - including its Ticketmaster division - are not responsible for increasing ticket prices
Chris Cooke
NEWS IN BRIEF
WMG is toying with an offer for Believe that would wipe out Warner’s cash reserves - but is it serious, would Believe shareholders sell and can WMG afford to bet the farm?
As Believe moves forward with its plans to go private, Warner Music might have tossed a great big Kyncl-shaped two billion dollar spanner in the works, presaging a potentially long-drawn out and bloody boardroom battle for control of the French company
Sam Taylor
Hipgnosis Songs Fund takes a haircut - and might have bigger problems to come
When City types talk about haircuts they might mean a short back and sides - but might also mean something has tanked in value. “My hedge fund took a haircut last week, so the new Ferrari will have to wait”. Hipgnosis has opened the wine, reached for the clippers and gone for a number two all over.
Sam Taylor
New US-wide TikTok ban proposed in Congress
More US politicians are trying to get TikTok banned in the country over data security concerns caused by the app being owned by China-based Bytedance. A new bill proposed in Congress orders ByteDance to sell the app or face a US-wide ban
Chris Cooke
Mean Millennials scrap streaming subscriptions, mail order music is booming - and Apple Music might be making £500 million or more in the UK
ERA’s annual stats bang shows a whole bunch of interesting things - including a booming market for mail order music, a declining audiobook opportunity - and a strong correlation with IFPI’s global stats
Sam Taylor
Raye wins record-breaking six BRIT Awards
In a dramatic conclusion to her phoenix from the flames story, Raye took home six of the seven BRIT awards for which she was nominated on Saturday night, including Artist and Album Of The Year. It also makes her the record holder for the most BRIT trophies won by a female artist at a single ceremony
Andy Malt
ALSO MENTIONED
Tidal phases out HiFi Plus tier, makes higher quality audio part of its standard subscription product
Tidal will next month merge its HiFi and HiFi Plus subscription tiers, meaning higher quality and immersive audio will become available with a standard 10.99 subscription. Currently the higher quality audio is restricted to its 19.99 HiFi Plus package
Chris Cooke
The Truth About Ticket Prices
By Dan Wall In the ongoing antitrust attacks on Live Nation and Ticketmaster, a constant theme is that their alleged “monopolies” are responsible for high ticket prices. Rhetorically, that’s understandable, because if you want to rile up fans against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, there is no better way than to blame them for something you […]
Hannah Rubin