The New York Times is reporting that Elliott Spizer’s office has served subpoenas on Universal Music, Sony, EMI and Warner Music as part of an investigation into whether the “four record companies that dominate the industry have violated antitrust laws in the pricing of songs that are sold by Internet music services”.

The article doesn’t elaborate much on the antitrust angle. The implication is that there is a suspicion that the firms have colluded to keep prices too high — which is what Steve Jobs alleged back in September. Hollywood digital commentator Roger L Simon is one who believes Steve is right.

The article also contains this interesting nugget:

Mr. Spitzer’s inquiry comes just as digital sales are starting to make a meaningful contribution to the companies’ bottom lines. Warner, for example, generated digital revenue of more than $50 million last quarter, up more than 300 percent from its fourth quarter last year.

8:54 am - posted by . Categories: Antitrust , eBusiness
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