Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - YAAT: Apple Said to Face Inquiry About Online Music [MRG]

FanIn80 · 05-26-2010, 03:57 PM

The "market" debate is still an ongoing one. If they only look at digital downloads, then Apple's 70% share is a clear monopoly. If they look at the entire US music industry, Apple's 28% (while more than double its nearest competitor), is not a clear monopoly.

So, the question remains... does having a 70% share of a distribution method that only accounts for 40% of the entire market count as a true monopoly? If not, then there is no Anti-trust issue to speak of, since there isn't a monopoly to abuse.

As for threatening record labels over their participation in Amazon's "sell your music at a loss" promotion, well... what really needs to be said about that? It's not the first time a large vendor has tried to strong-arm a supplier into giving them more product.

05-26-2010, 03:57 PM	#2
FanIn80 GOAT! Join Date: Jun 2006 Exp:	The "market" debate is still an ongoing one. If they only look at digital downloads, then Apple's 70% share is a clear monopoly. If they look at the entire US music industry, Apple's 28% (while more than double its nearest competitor), is not a clear monopoly. So, the question remains... does having a 70% share of a distribution method that only accounts for 40% of the entire market count as a true monopoly? If not, then there is no Anti-trust issue to speak of, since there isn't a monopoly to abuse. As for threatening record labels over their participation in Amazon's "sell your music at a loss" promotion, well... what really needs to be said about that? It's not the first time a large vendor has tried to strong-arm a supplier into giving them more product. Last edited by FanIn80; 05-26-2010 at 05:35 PM.