Big Music’s antitrust meddling could mess up how you listen

The old joke in economic circles is that antitrust law — first popularized by the William H. Taft and Theodore Roosevelt administrations over a century ago — brings people together.

Compare the content generated by center-right groups like The Heritage Foundation with analyses from left-leaning think-tanks like The Brookings Institution. Although there is some disagreement on how expansive it should be, the consensus remains clear: antitrust law, in some form, is essential for protecting competition, jobs, and fair market pricing.

Free market economists balk at expanding the DOJ’s power and advocate for narrowing the focus of its consumer protection efforts. However, the consensus of ensuring that antitrust law serves as a traffic cop in industries where free markets do not exist remains as strong as it has ever been. And yet, despite this uncontroversial area of agreement, executives at some of the most notorious institutions restrained by the DOJ are now seemingly trying to demolish this area of near unanimity that has existed for decades.

The most recent example of this racket has come from the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) — the two music industry collectives, known as performing rights organizations (PROs), that license the vast…