§ Ms. QuinTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if his Department intends to bring forward any proposals concerning the wholesale and retail prices of compact discs.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThe Office of Fair Trading recently completed detailed inquiries into the recorded music market, with particular reference to the price of compact discs. It found that no producer or retailer had a market share in excess of 25 per cent.—the threshold for a scale monopoly under the monopoly provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973—and that there was no evidence of collusion between recorded music producers or retailers, or between producers and retailers. It concluded that prices of compact discs had settled at the level which the market was willing to bear. There was no evidence that the profits of record producers were excessive. In the absence of any evidence of collusion or anti-competitive conduct the Director General of Fair Trading concluded that no action under the competition legislation was appropriate but the OFT proposes to keep the market under review.