The European Commission unconditionally approved a merger between record companies Sony Music and BMG last night.
The combination of Sony Music, a division of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corporation, and BMG, a unit of German media company Bertelsmann, brings together a wide range of artists and creates a rival to market leader Vivendi's Universal Music Group.
The European Union decision confirms a statement by Bertelsmann and Sony yesterday, which said that they had obtained approval.
Regulators at the European Union's executive said it would watch the sector closely for further consolidation.
The deal had been opposed by independent record producers, but Competition Commissioner Mr Mario Monti and his staff decided this objection would not stand up before the European Union's Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
The court has thrown out three past Commission prohibitions, deciding that the Commission had failed to prove its cases and setting a high bar for such proof.