EU Probes CD Price-Fixing Allegations

European Union antitrust investigators are looking into suspicions that the world’s largest music companies may have fixed artificially high prices for compact discs in Europe, as they were accused of doing in the United States. European Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres said regulators were looking at contracts between music companies and European retailers “to see whether the record companies are pursuing the same or similar prices in Europe.” She said the inquiry was at a “very early stage” and as yet, the commission had no firm evidence of price fixing by the five companies--Universal Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. Music, EMI Group and Bertelsmann Music Group. The EU probe was triggered by an investigation in the U.S. that led to a settlement last year under which the companies agreed to discontinue programs that forced retailers to sell CDs at or above a set level in return for substantial funding for their ads.