The European Union’s antitrust agency, the European Commission, has sent out a series of questionnaires to labels and digital music companies. The query is asking for details about deals between Apple and the publishers in advance of the Beats acquisition-driven music service, expected to launch this summer.
According to the Financial Times, who cited sources familiar with the matter, the commission is considering if Apple’s market weight is being used illicitly to abandon “free” services that rely on ad impressions like Spotify. Apple is not expected to have an ad-supported tier for its streaming music service.
The questionnaires are the first step in a multiyear process from the commission in evaluating if a formal investigation will be launched. Generally, a market complaint must be made for the commission to start the process, but the source of the complaint has not been declared as of yet.
Neither Apple nor the commission has commented on the matter
