Regulators have opened investigations into the musical instruments sector on the basis that there may be anti-competitive agreements that can be detrimental to the consumer.
The investigation has been launched by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) who are the UK’s primary watchdog when it comes to enforcing healthy competition. Anti-competitive agreements that result in cartels, price fixing, and other forms of collusion can be damaging to the consumer. Profits can be inflated for the businesses, and the consumer can end up paying more; which is the opposite to what healthy competition should ensure.
It’s therefore within the public’s interests for suspected anti-competitive agreements to be thoroughly investigated. If the consumer is being ripped off, the companies involved in the behaviour must be punished.
Investigation launched in the musical instruments sector
The CMA has officially launched an investigation into the musical instruments sector on the basis of suspected anti-competitive arrangements. This was launched on 30th April 2019, and as it’s early days, no assumptions are being made at the moment.
We don’t yet know how this has come about. In many cases, a company comes forward as a “whistle-blower” and admits to what has been happening. The company that comes forward and admits their behaviour often avoids being fined, so there are incentives to come forward and admit to anti-competitive behaviour.
As for the other companies, they can be fined millions for breaches of important competition law.
One to keep an eye on…
The musical instruments sector has skyrocketed in recent years. Instruments are now far more affordable, and there’s a wide-range of options for people to choose from. This includes the market for it on the internet as well.
But I can tell you from experience that being a musician can be an expensive hobby. With so many sellers out there, the benefit of competition can be huge for the consumer. But if big players in the market are colluding, and this is restricting or distorting competition, it’s the consumer that usually pays the price.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this particular investigation. The scale of the behaviour is not yet known, but given the size of the musical instruments sector, it could be huge.