Lead: Merlin is accusing the majors of trying to game the digital music market by either buying into or buying up distributors and aggregators, thereby awarding themselves a huge negotiating advantage. Yet the deals indies have with iTunes and Spotify (which account for the lion's share of their digital income) are – for the most part – seen as equitable while both services are regarded as huge supporters of independent music. Are Merlin's worst fears being realised? Or is it just (for now) confined to a handful of extremely niche services?
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