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MERCK PUSHES FOR DIGITAL BILL
5/10/22

The U.K. will take steps toward creating a new Big Tech watchdog that has at least one fan in Hipgnosis Song Management’s Merck Mercuriadis.

The government plans to introduce a Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill in draft form to Parliament, which means updated competition rules are possible but will take awhile.

“Today’s announcement in the Queen’s Speech to bring forward the legal framework for the statutory Digital Markets Unit is a huge opportunity to redress the current imbalance in the music streaming market which favors digital platforms over songwriters and artists,” said Mercuriadis, Chief Executive and Founder of Hipgnosis. “By including digital music platforms, this new draft law and the new powers it grants to the CMA will pave the way for a major boost to songwriters, the U.K.’s music industry, British tech innovation and its creative potential. This would be great news for songwriters and music lovers alike.”

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill is one of 38 bills included The Queen’s Speech that Prince Charles delivered today.

The DMU was set up last year but has yet to have been granted power to create policy that would curb abuses by major tech companies.