The 2004 merger that created Sony BMG was cleared for a second time by the European Commission on Wednesday with no conditions, setting a precedent for other deals which could reduce the number of competitors in the recorded music industry from four to three.

Three years after one of Brussels’ most contentious merger rulings and almost 15 months after Europe’s Court of First Instance annulled the first clearance, the 337-page review found “no evidence of co-ordinated behaviour prior to the merger or as a result of it”.