Apple Says Spotify Seeks to Keep All Benefits of App Store Without Making Any Contributions to Marketplace

[Nuno Lopes]

What about Amazon? The company does that. They went on banning Apple products from their store because it competed with theirs.

It's common practice big retailers have their own alternative products.

Spotify complaint has it merits and a middle ground must be found. It is indeed unfair when a huge decides to target a particular client, case in case Spotify. Especially when the target has no leverage. The bigger the company the harder is to get leverage (hence, anti thrust rules are in place). The proof that Apple is targeting spotty is in how it answered the complaint, acting as the guardian of artists, bla bla, .... Hyprocritical ....

Yet the issue they point out runs deep in the retail business.

 

[Abazigal]

I never said Apple shouldn't be able to make their own apps. But they are absolutely not competing on a level playing field.
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And my point is that Apple doesn’t need to.

 

[Kabeyun]

I am NOT defending Spotify, but the iOS App Store is in-deed Catastrophically Broken !

AAPL Controls the Narrative, & does so to the tune of 100% !

AAPL makes their App Recommendations based-upon "Politics," NOT which apps are best for their Users.

The list goes on & on ...

"App Discovery" of good apps is NON-existent !

How much search filtering does AAPL offer ??? that one is easy to answer, except for keywords, Zero !

AAPL hit $1T USD in market cap last year ... yet, exactly how many (major) App Success Stories have occurred for apps that started life since Cook took over ... I know of NONE !

Of course Apple controls the “narrative” (whatever that means) in the App Store. It’s...their store. <facepalm>

Recommendations based on politics? What does this even mean? They only suggest apps made by their buddies? The make recommendations to curry favor? You have proof of that odd accusation?

Yes, a way to refine search results would be welcome. Does this make the entire App Store “catastrophically broken”? I guess it does to you. Not to me.

No success stories since Cook became CEO in 2011? Really? That statement is just the king of bizarre. I just replayed The Room series by Fireproof and a friend just discovered Monument Valley by Ustwo, two runaway successes. And have you ever heard of a game called Clash of Clans? Supercell has made as much as $3 million a day off that title and put ads in the Super Bowl. Or would you consider that only minor success? And this is only in Games category, and I didn’t even try hard. If you want a shred of credibility, stop laying the absurd at Tim Cook’s feet. I’m guessing you also blame him when your corn flakes get soggy.

 

[Jsameds]

Apple should put their fees up.

 

[threesixty360]

30% is extremely high for hosting a tiny amount of static content in the app store and providing a download. The big thing is this is the only way to get apps. Is that worth 30%?

30% for the expense of creating the store in the first place, the marketing, branding, security, payment, review process etc.. and thats for everyone. So some apps like the free version of Spotify (the most popular) do not pay anything and benefit from the whole setup to distribute their app to millions of potentially lucrative high income people.

Also, with so many apps not paying a dime, the 30% for apps the command a fee subsidizes the cost for the free apps as well.

People forget how much it costs to build a trusted brand and infrastructure. How much upfront work needs to be done. It's a huge undertaking. Especially as Apple really sell hardware not software, so the cost of building everything must come from the device sales themselves or somewhere else (services etc.).

Thats what its always been silly to look at the cost of building an iphone is just the materials and labour costs. Part of the iphone cost is things like the app store etc..

That is apples model. Either handle it or negotiate something else if you can.

 

[Nuno Lopes]

Maybe Apple should give up the 30% they collect from Spotify to the music artists and creators that are badly treated by them.

Absurd? Indeed. So it’s their response

Of course Spotify contributed to the growth of Apple ecossistem. Like any other major digital service that it’s there.

No? Without third party services and apps it’s would be a ghost town as much as Windows Phone was.

So it is a symbiotic relationship even if no fee was to be collected in case of direct competition.

 

[Heineken]

Not everybody knows you can sign up using the website, and developers are forbidden from even hinting that it's an option.



This is exactly why major publishers are doing their own thing on PC now.

So clueless Spotify customers are apples problem? Someone being ignorant and or stupid is not apples problem.

 

[Stella]

Let Spotify advertise their subscription details within app and let them link to the web page.

 

[Marshall73]

Margrethe Vestager will beat the living sh** out of Apple. I am very sure.
To the EU Commission everything from Apple is now a check field.

As a customer I would love to see: alternative App Stores, Setting of alternative standard Applications for different things just like on macOS, "Downgradeable" iOS Versions...

Then you should go to Android with their multiple stores... oh...wait.

Spotify are just pissed off because they have a stupid business plan which is so inflexible it didn’t account for changes to the cost of running business. E.g. increased royalties, competition from Amazon, Google and Apple. They can have the free version on the App Store and run audio ads advertising Spotify premium and how to get it if they want. They have to play by the rules to get onto other platforms too, Play store, Xbox store, PlayStation store. This is purely an exercise in public relations to cast shade on a competitor.

 

[Heineken]

Let Spotify advertise their subscription details within app and let them link to the web page.

No.

 

[ROGmaster]

And how can they compete then with APPLE MUSIC, which has a much more streamlined marketing apporach (everything in app without leaving context) ? You think Apple is charging Apple Music also 30%?

Even if the did they would pay that 30% to themselves so it's not identical to a 3rd party needing to pay that 30%.
It's like moving the money form one of my pockets to another one of my pockets.

 

[Nuno Lopes]

Let Spotify advertise their subscription details within app and let them link to the web page.

The problem is that everyone would do that.

I think it should be allowed for products / services Apple competed with. Not everyone else. They need to fix this quick.

Apple does not want this in EU court!!!! Unless they totally went bzerk on ego.

 

[genovelle]

I am NOT defending Spotify, but the iOS App Store is in-deed Catastrophically Broken !

AAPL Controls the Narrative, & does so to the tune of 100% !

AAPL makes their App Recommendations based-upon "Politics," NOT which apps are best for their Users.

The list goes on & on ...

"App Discovery" of good apps is NON-existent !

How much search filtering does AAPL offer ??? that one is easy to answer, except for keywords, Zero !

AAPL hit $1T USD in market cap last year ... yet, exactly how many (major) App Success Stories have occurred for apps that started life since Cook took over ... I know of NONE !

It is their store, so they should control the narrative. When you walk into target or logon to Amazon or visit your local Drugstore, they control the narrative. It’s their store.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

If GPM turns out a big success, I believe google would do the same thing to Spotify, making its life on the Play Store unreasonably hard and annoying, maybe even more so than Apple.

Android lets you install apps from the internet. There’s no need to distribute via the Play Store. Google is actually motivated to have their store worthwhile for customers and developers.

Apple is running a monopoly. Once you’re in their walled garden, your options are to either switch platforms entirely or to only buy apps through their App Store.

We all remember hating Microsoft’s monopoly, right? This is worse than that ever was. This is like if IE couldn’t download and install apps, and instead developers and customers both had to pay Microsoft for the right to install any application in Windows.

I hate Warren, but I’m glad she’s putting some heat on Apple for this. We need more. Apple needs to knock this off. I’ve been saying it for over ten years now.

 

[dilbert99]

Small players gain an advantage using Apple.
Large players do not.

 

[Shanghaichica]

No.

Well they are already getting free advertising by having the app in the AppStore. I agree they should’ve be allowed to advertise in the app for free.

 

[dilbert99]

Its Apple's marketplace.... how is it anti competitive if they control their own marketplace.

Look up what a monopoly is, then you will understand.
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That’s spotify’s problem, not Apple’s.

If Spotify doesn’t have a sustainable business model, then maybe it should just go out of business, or get acquired by another company.

How would you refute all the claims that spotify made? - https://www.timetoplayfair.com/

 

[Remy149]

Let Spotify advertise their subscription details within app and let them link to the web page.

Then every app will do this and folks will say it’s apple fault when they get scammed by a developer
[doublepost=1552648751][/doublepost]

Android lets you install apps from the internet. There’s no need to distribute via the Play Store. Google is actually motivated to have their store worthwhile for customers and developers.

Apple is running a monopoly. Once you’re in their walled garden, your options are to either switch platforms entirely or to only buy apps through their App Store.

We all remember hating Microsoft’s monopoly, right? This is worse than that ever was. This is like if IE couldn’t download and install apps, and instead developers and customers both had to pay Microsoft for the right to install any application in Windows.

I hate Warren, but I’m glad she’s putting some heat on Apple for this. We need more. Apple needs to knock this off. I’ve been saying it for over ten years now.

Many of us but Apple products because it’s a walled off garden. If you want a platform that’s more open you have an alternative to Apple devices

 

[iSayuSay]

Android lets you install apps from the internet. There’s no need to distribute via the Play Store. Google is actually motivated to have their store worthwhile for customers and developers.

Apple is running a monopoly. Once you’re in their walled garden, your options are to either switch platforms entirely or to only buy apps through their App Store.

We all remember hating Microsoft’s monopoly, right? This is worse than that ever was. This is like if IE couldn’t download and install apps, and instead developers and customers both had to pay Microsoft for the right to install any application in Windows.

I hate Warren, but I’m glad she’s putting some heat on Apple for this. We need more. Apple needs to knock this off. I’ve been saying it for over ten years now.

For now that is probably true. You must be remember how Epic Games was doing the same thing to Google? They don't want to pay Google 30% cut for every Fortnite's purchase so they decide to make apk file available through their site and tells customers to sideload the app to their phones.

Strangely enough, Epic didn't have the ball to complain about AppStore's 30% cut??
Alas those developers living on the edge and you never know if Google prevents next Android to sideload 3rd party apps. For me I always see Spotify as 3rd party services, they have their own webpage, and can freely market their own products without complaining a lot about how big the cut really is.

Sell Spotify at its own web for $9.99 or $12.99 through AppStore and PlayStore. Let the customers decide whether they want save some money by paying directly, or go with the convenience/security of iTunes billing and pay $12.99 each month.

Or just get off the IAP directly and do your own marketing campaign. Spotify is big enough to do this so I don't see the need of complain. It's not like it's craving for customers. Spotify is #1 music streaming service, globally. No need to be afraid.

 

[Stella]

That is a sales and marketing excuse Tim Apple would come up.

A pathetically ****** one at that.

Then every app will do this and folks will say it’s apple fault when they get scammed by a developer
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Many of us but Apple products because it’s a walled off garden. If you want a platform that’s more open you have an alternative to Apple devices

 

[burgman]

The only solution is to open up the iOS platform so developers can sell directly to end users, or through other 3rd party app stores. This works on the Mac platform, so there is no technical reason iOS cannot also work this way.


Also see:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...store-meeting-with-select-developers.2132523/

Yeah, no thank you, on Mac or IOS. I have no means to check what developers put in their product, even Apple and Google miss malware and other bad bits hidden in apps.

 

[Stella]

Smaller developers would still use Apple’s in app payments for subscriptions because it’s easier.

Larger companies such as Spotify would opt out and handle subscriptions themselves - I don’t see an issue with that.

The problem is that everyone would do that.

I think it should be allowed for products / services Apple competed with. Not everyone else. They need to fix this quick.

Apple does not want this in EU court!!!! Unless totally went bzerk on ego.

 

[warp9]

Look up what a monopoly is, then you will understand.

From Google: "the exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service."

iOS has less than 25% of the global market. That is the exact opposite of a monopoly. They can do whatever they want with their own store because there are lots of other options to choose from.

 

[Stella]

Yeah, no thank you, on Mac or IOS. I have no means to check what developers put in their product, even Apple and Google miss malware and other bad bits hidden in apps.

Only download content from apple’s App Store as you can now. Problem solved.

There is little reason why iOS can’t be like the Mac - allow side loading of apps and have an AppStore too for those who want to use it.

 

[iSayuSay]

Only download content from apple’s App Store as you can now. Problem solved.

There is little reason why iOS can’t be like the Mac - allow side loading of apps and have an AppStore too for those who want to use it.

There is no reason also why iOS can't be run on $400 Android hardware. Or MacOS on $1000 PC hardware. But this is the duopoly of tech world as of now and I think we just have to pick sides.