The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee have filed their report on streaming, and my goodness – initial impressions are that it doesn’t hold back. 50/50 pay for artists and labels, equitable renumeration, issues with metadata – it’s all there. But what is the Government going to do now that it has a copy?

I’ll be reading the entire report for myself later. No doubt there are bits that haven’t been picked up yet. The things I do for my readers, eh? In the meantime, an MP has tweeted out the main points of the report below…

Point 13 is an interesting one. Brennan says “There is no doubt that the major music groups currently dominate the music industry. We recommend that the Government refer a case to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to undertake a full market study into the economic impact of the majors’ dominance.”.

The prospect of a competition inquiry is going to have the majors terrified. Whilst the parliamentary committee was doing its work, more than one witness accused the majors of trying to blackmail artists into staying silent – saying their careers would be punished if they spoke out. That would be called tampering with witnesses anywhere else. I think people are entitled to know why none of the majors ever denied this very serious allegation…

It also explains why the British Phonographic Industry are doing their utmost to keep a calm front when replying to this report today. In reality, the idea of a competition inquiry has them spitting feathers – and a quick look on Companies House reveals just how closely involved the majors are with the BPI. It’s nothing more than their lapdog, and it senses its owners are scared their cosy little arrangement is under threat.

As I said, I’ll be reading the report in its entirety later today. I suspect I’ll be coming back to this one…