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European regulators warn Universal’s takeover of Downtown “will likely impede competition”

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Universal Music • 3 min read

European regulators warn Universal’s takeover of Downtown “will likely impede competition”

Competition regulators in the EU investigating Universal’s bid to buy Downtown are about to send the major a ‘statement of objections’ about the deal, which happens if regulators conclude a planned merger will “likely impede competition”. UMG will then have ten days to respond to those objections…

Chris Cooke • 19 Nov 2025

Full scale anticompetition investigation on the cards after UMG’s Virgin Music fails to allay EU fears over Downtown merger

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Universal Music • 4 min read

Full scale anticompetition investigation on the cards after UMG’s Virgin Music fails to allay EU fears over Downtown merger

The European Commission is set to launch a full-scale ‘phase two’ merger investigation into Universal’s Downtown deal after it failed to convince regulators that the transaction should proceed unhindered. With the rhetoric from UMG surrogates already at fever pitch, will the war of words get worse?…

Sam Taylor • 16 Jul 2025

European regulators won’t fall for UMG’s tricks a second time says IMPALA boss

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Helen Smith • 5 min read

European regulators won’t fall for UMG’s tricks a second time says IMPALA boss

In an op-ed published yesterday, IMPALA’s Helen Smith spells out why she believes European regulators will give an “outright no” to Universal’s Downtown deal. Having already taken regulatory action against Universal once before in 2012, the EC is unlikely to give the major a second bite of the cake…

Sam Taylor • 26 Jun 2025

Cloudflare says EU piracy list should focus on “truly bad actors”, not companies like Cloudflare

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Cloudflare • 3 min read

Cloudflare says EU piracy list should focus on “truly bad actors”, not companies like Cloudflare

The EU is currently compiling the next edition of its Piracy Watch List, with rightsholders submitting lists of their main piracy concerns. In some cases that includes grievances about internet services companies like Cloudflare. But that’s not what the Watch List should be about, insists Cloudflare…

Chris Cooke • 08 Nov 2024

Oasis brings dynamic ticketing practices under fire from UK’s competition and advertising regulators, plus EU

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Live Business • 3 min read

Oasis brings dynamic ticketing practices under fire from UK’s competition and advertising regulators, plus EU

Following all the criticism of the use of dynamic pricing for the sale of tickets to the Oasis reunion shows last weekend, both the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority and the European Commission have announced they are reviewing this practice to check if it is compliant with consumer rights laws…

Chris Cooke • 04 Sep 2024

Apple • 2 min read

EU officials could send Apple statement of objections based on Spotify complaint, as UK regulator launches investigation into tech giant’s App Store rules

The European Commission could set out a list of objections in relation to Apple’s allegedly anti-competitive conduct in the…

Chris Cooke • 05 Mar 2021

Epic Games • 2 min read

Fortnite maker follows Spotify in making its Apple beef public

Spotify has a new friend in ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games. And not just because they both count Tencent as shareholders.…

Chris Cooke • 14 Aug 2020

Spotify • 4 min read

Spotify goes to war with Apple, asks EU to investigate anti-competitive behaviour

Already fighting a battle with the songwriters and music publishers of America, Spotify yesterday confirmed it was going to war…

Chris Cooke • 14 Mar 2019