DIGITAL BILL HAS MERCK'S SUPPORT

The U.K. will take steps toward creating a new Big Tech watchdog, which 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, meaning updated competition rules are a plausible outcome that will nonetheless take a while. The bill is one of 38 included in The Queen’s Speech, which Prince Charles delivered today, 5/10.

“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 the Competitions & Markets Authority will pave the way for a major boost to songwriters, the U.K.’s music industry and British tech innovation and its creative potential. This would be great news for songwriters and music lovers alike.”

The Digital Markets Unit Mercuriadis references was established last year but has not yet been granted the power to create policy that would curb abuses by major tech companies.