Spotify Calls Apple's App Store Restrictions 'An Abusive Power Grab'

[MacRumors]

At an App Store antitrust hearing that took place today, Spotify and Match Group (the company behind Tinder) accused Apple of abusing its App Store powers to to disadvantage rival services, reports Bloomberg. Spotify chief Legal Officer Horacio Gutierrez said that Apple's rules are "nothing more than an abusive power grab."

"Apple abuses its dominant position as a gatekeeper of the App Store to insulate itself from competition and disadvantage rival services like Spotify," Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify's chief legal officer, told lawmakers. Apple's restrictions on developers, he added, "are nothing more than an abusive power grab and a confiscation of the value created by others.

Spotify has had an ongoing feud with Apple since the debut of Apple Music. Apple Music is priced at $9.99, a price point that Spotify is unable to match due to the 30 percent cut that Apple takes, as it does not leave enough margin for Spotify to make money. Spotify has complained that it has no choice but to charge more on iOS devices and no alternative as Apple does not allow it to offer alternative signup or payment options in its app.

Match, meanwhile, complained that it had wanted to add ID verification rules to boost the app's safety in Taiwan, but Apple would not allow it to do so. Match contacted an Apple executive, who allegedly told the company that it should be glad Apple was not taking all of its revenue. "You owe us every dime you've made," the Apple executive reportedly said.

The "Antitrust Applied: Examining Competition in App Stores" hearing is examining App Stores and mobile competition, and is focused on Apple and Google. Apple's Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer was in attendance to defend Apple.

Andeer stuck to Apple's standard talking points about how the App Store revolutionized software distribution and made it easier for developers to reach new users. Andeer said that Apple's strict App Store rules are designed to meet privacy, safety, and performance standards.

Apple's App Store rules are also facing a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust investigation, and Apple is currently gearing up for a showdown over its App Store policies with Epic Games.

Article Link: Spotify Calls Apple's App Store Restrictions 'An Abusive Power Grab'

 

[farewelwilliams]

Except the 30% that Spotify doesn't want to pay supports the indie developers who rely on Apple developer resources to create useful apps for iPhone customers which expands the customer base and makes more money for indie devs in the long run. Don't like that paradigm? Then don't develop for it.

 

[countryside]

Shut up, Spotify! Make your own OS.

 

[nitramluap]

Says the company who pays SFA to artists. The nerve.

 

[DoctorApple]

Why wouldn’t Apple allow Match Group to add ID verification?
The comment made by that Apple executive is indefensible.
Edit: That sounds like something that Phil Schiller would say.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Spotify... why so jealous of Apple?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Why wouldn’t Apple allow Match Group to add ID verification?
The comment made by that Apple executive is indefensible.

We don't know if the alleged statement is true and in the proper context of the whole alleged conversation.

 

[macsimcon]

You know, 25 years ago, Apple was about to self-destruct. Now they're the most valuable company on Earth. Perhaps if these little whiners like Tile, Epic, and Spotify innovated more and complained less, they might be able to compete, survive, and thrive.

This isn't flag football, this is capitalism. Stop your complaining and MAKE something.

 

[ipacers]

The comment made by that Apple executive is indefensible.

If you believe that Match executive, I've got a bridge to sell you.

 

[Realityck]

At an App Store antitrust hearing that took place today, Spotify and Match Group (the company behind Tinder) accused Apple of abusing its App Store powers to to disadvantage rival services, reports Bloomberg.

If you sell your subscriptions via web online, and just post the app in the App store, what are you losing? Offer better deals that way, like annual. There are ways to work around this.

 

[Darth.Titan]

Apple Music is priced at $9.99, a price point that Spotify is unable to match due to the 30 percent cut that Apple takes, as it does not leave enough margin for Spotify to make money.

Pretty sure Spotify hasn't turned a profit since they opened their business. Not sure how they're keeping the lights on.

 

[larrylaffer]

The company that pays the least amount of money per play among all the streaming platforms is accusing someone else of a power grab.

 

[Apple_Robert]

You know, 25 years ago, Apple was about to self-destruct. Now they're the most valuable company on Earth. Perhaps if these little whiners like Tile, Epic, and Spotify innovated more and complained less, they might be able to compete, survive, and thrive.

This isn't flag football, this is capitalism. Stop your complaining and MAKE something.

This post makes way too much sense and has been reported for further review.

 

[nutmac]

30-15% cut is high, at least for services where most of the contents are on their hosted service.

Services like video and music streaming, podcasts, books, and file hosting, maybe subscription-based games with significant hosted contents and multiplayer infrastructure, should be reduced to 15% first year, 7.5% the next.

 

[movielad]

Shut up, Spotify! Make your own OS.

Or a Spotify smartphone. 100% Spotify, 100% of the time. They could implement whatever features they wanted, and disallow whatever they wanted. It'd be THEIR platform. They'd able to set whatever rules they wanted.

 

[Cosmosent]

New Laws are coming !

It's just a matter of time !

 

[Mimiron]

Dear Spotify,

You can always come up with your own platform and make the rules. Oh wait, you can't. Too bad for you. What the hell do these companies even want? They are on the App Store so they either play by the rules or they can get the hell out of there and go create their own platforms.

It's completely logical that Apple has a monopoly and wants Apple users to primarily use Apple Music and not Spotify, which is why they will never change this. Other companies wouldn't either if they were in Apple's position.

If you disagree, don't buy an iPhone, as simple as that.

 

[kiensoy]

You know, 25 years ago, Apple was about to self-destruct. Now they're the most valuable company on Earth. Perhaps if these little whiners like Tile, Epic, and Spotify innovated more and complained less, they might be able to compete, survive, and thrive.

This isn't flag football, this is capitalism. Stop your complaining and MAKE something.

Instead of selling songs at $.99 a pop, Spotify created a streaming service of unlimited music. Tile created a product to find missing items. They MADE something. Apple is the one that didn’t innovate and decided to copy them. But now Spotify and Tile obviously can’t compete with Apple.

 

[GSWForever8]

And with this, malware is going on the rise. We don’t want our iOS to become Android.

Edit- Although macOS you can download apps off the web, at least there is xProtect and most of them are Apple notarized. However on Android, I don't think there is an equivalent(Don't quote me, I'm no android guy!)

 

[RedTheReader]

The issue I take with Spotify’s complaint is that I don’t really see a solution. Suppose apps weren’t restricted to Apple’s store. Okay, cool; now what? The vast majority of people would still use the App Store, just like the vast majority use the Play Store on Android. So although Spotify could technically make its app a web download, in all practicality, it would still need to use the App Store. What solution are we then left with?

 

[brofkand]

I think it's reasonable to expect that Spotify and other services would be given the same toolbox as Apple's own apps.

Apple's apps should have to compete on a level playing field with other apps.

 

[Jimmdean]

Apple has a long history of either making a thing, or making a better version of someone else’s thing. That’s not going to change. I am ok with that.

 

[WiseAJ]

You know Spotify set the $9.99 price long before Apple Music existed. If they really can't survive off of that then maybe they shouldn't have charged that to begin with. Apple Music just matched them when they came to be.

 

[now i see it]

If anyone cared to look up the definition of "monopoly" they'd see right there that the App Store is one. And by the way- monopolies are illegal

 

[Jgreg00]

30-15% cut is high, at least for services where most of the contents are on their hosted service.

Services like video and music streaming, podcasts, books, and file hosting, maybe subscription-based games with significant hosted contents and multiplayer infrastructure, should be reduced to 15% first year, 7.5% the next.

So we're just going to pull numbers out our asses of what Apple "should" be charging? Why not 3%? Why not 1%? Why not free?