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Senator Elizabeth Warren Accuses Apple of Trying to 'Snuff Out Competition,' Spotify Agrees

MacRumors said:



Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren today gave a speech where she accused Amazon, Apple, and Google of attempting to "snuff out competition" by locking out smaller companies, reports Recode.In regard to Apple specifically, Warren said the company has made it difficult for its rivals to offer competitive streaming services able to compete with Apple Music, presumably through the cut that it takes from streaming services like Spotify when people sign up through the iOS app.

applemusic.jpg

To account for Apple's cut, Spotify charges $12.99 to customers who purchase a subscription through an Apple device, which is $3 higher than the $9.99 price tag of Apple Music.

While Apple declined to comment on Warren's statements, Spotify's head of communications and public policy Jonathan Prince took the opportunity to lambaste Apple in a statement given to Recode.
Spotify has long been unhappy with Apple's pricing policy. In the past, Spotify fought against Apple's cut by sending emails to its customers who had signed up for a $12.99 per month subscription on an iPhone or iPad, encouraging them to cancel their subscriptions and re-subscribe via the web.

Recently, Spotify criticized some upcoming App Store changes like a new revenue split for subscriptions and ads in search results, saying Apple's efforts don't "get to the core of the problem" and criticizing Apple's insistence on "inserting itself between developers and their customers."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Senator Elizabeth Warren Accuses Apple of Trying to 'Snuff Out Competition,' Spotify Agrees
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I'm not understanding why this is a problem. Just sign up from the web...problem solved.
 
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"Spotify is welcome to develop their own mobile platform and can charge (or not charge) whatever they want." - Apple probably
 
ethanwa79 said:
I agree! You want full control and best pricing Spotify? Go make your own phone! Good luck.

And for the people comparing this to Microsoft or IBM, it's the not the same thing. Apple has plenty of competition in the mobile phone industry and DON'T have a monopoly. They are free to lock down their API's as they see fit as competitors (like Spotify) still have other platforms they can use instead. This isn't like Windows/IE, when they controlled 99% market share.

From a user's perspective though, it does suck that on iOS it's Apple Music if you want full integration. I can see both sides. But the reality is that Spotify simply doesn't have anything "disruptive" in the marketplace and therefore all they can do is complain.... come up with something truly unique if you want to get Apple to change.
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I would argue that none of them ever had an actual monopoly in their field.
Also, I feel both Google and Apple are big enough to warrant some form of rules to apply to their practices.

Might as well look at the two of them as a de-facto duopoly and when they both run the same rules with slight alterations that keep competitors at bay it's really not that much better.

Glassed Silver:mac
 
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blacktape242 said:
why don't we just let the Gov. run everything, that was no one can get their feelings hurt, there will be no more problems, they will put everyone on a level playing field to all work together in harmony. would work out perfectly!
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I'd love nothing more than to be told explicitly what I am allowed to do and not do and say in all aspects of my life. Sign me up! ;)
 
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Glassed Silver said:
It's one thing to take the cut, but to forbid the service to notify customers of cheaper options that are available elsewhere...
And yes, to hinder competitors by locking down APIs...
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To your first point, I think they forbid developers from promoting lower prices within the app. You can communicate with customers elsewhere, just not on Apple's turn. Target wouldn't allow you to sell a widget with a sticker that said "Cheaper at Walmart" on it.

And the argument of locking down APIs is a slippery one. Of course, Apple hasn't made the platforms as open as is possible. But they're also trying to protect the software ecosystem that has helped to create such a vibrant app development community in the first place.

If they threw the doors open on Siri and let any app register for whatever response phrases they want, then we'd have a real pile on our hands, no?
 
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If Spotify doesn't like giving the IAP cut to Apple, they can force people to go to the Spotify site to create an account and pay for service. They really should just go ahead and do that instead of agreeing with an idiot politician who doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground.
 
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So, Apple's holding those poor little guys down by coming to the game YEARS later and also not giving them free access to their app store (including delivering updates) for a direct competitor? I don't recall going to any Best Buy and seeing things on the shelves which I can purchase where all the money ends up over at Target.

Also, Spotify wants to whine about Apple inserting themselves between the customer and developer? It's THEIR STORE. It comes with the territory. Spotify is more than welcome to go and invest billions of dollars into building out an ecosystem if they want, and good luck to them and their handsets.
 
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Pocahontas a Liberal who is against competition and Republicans the same all the politicians are the same they are deep in the pocket. It is no longer about American consumers it is about Dictatorship. Do not trust Donald Trump or Hillary both are the same but Donald Trump is the biggest liar of all and his products are either made in China or Turkey but he will tell you otherwise because he went to an Ivy League school and learned big words (like his hands).
 
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Might be me, but App Store is a ... You guessed it: STORE.. I love to get stuff cheapest possible but Apple really runs a store here. If Spotify wants to sell music through Wallmart or other places, guess what? They want something for the product to be distributed through their store as well.

Is there smarter ways to do it? Yeah of course. Apple could charge a cut of the first couple of months or something to be more fair, but to be pissed about them charging something for providing a store, infrastructure, payment systems, a **** load of customer traffic? That's pretty lame
 
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