Did you mean Spotify isn't adding 30%? Google certainly does charge 30% just like Apple https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en
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Spotify Encourages Customers to Cancel App Store Subscription, Resubscribe via Web to Save $3
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So how come Spotify didn't care about this 30% before Apple music launched?
Obviously because they view it as an unfair advantage that only Apple can offer a music subscription with the convenience of in-app sign-ups without paying a 30% penalty. Besides, they have pointed out this issue on their web site all along. So have Rdio, Tidal, and probably others.
Because it was a mutually beneficial relationship. Now they're competitors, so all bets are off. Apple has the potential to lure away a lot of Spotify customers, so they have to at least be competitive on price to remain in the hunt.
Have you ever published anything to the App Store? It doesn't sound like you have.
I have. Compared to selling direct and having control over things, the process ****ing sucks. It is far more of a "true headache", especially because almost everything is opaque.
There is a reason companies like Panic have pulled apps from the App Store (Mac App Store in this case, but the policies are the same): The headache (and heartache) with the whole process can be even more of a problem than the 30% taken.
same reason why Apple didn't pull Bose products until after they bought Beats.
You make some good points.
However, I maintain that the App Store needs a serious overhaul in terms of app discoverability. There is much too much focus on the top 150 apps, and not nearly enough subcategories. I want to see top charts of hotel apps, note apps, asmr apps, tower defence games, gardening apps!
The drill needs to go much deeper.
Hehe. Okay.
iCloud Music Library (which is required to be turned on for full functioning Apple Music) totally FUBARed all my album art, duplicated my playlists (repeatedly, even after I'd remove a dupe), removed some playlists from my phone. On my Mac, it made changes to files (the actual stored files on my machine) that I hadn't touched in years. When I turned off iCloud Music Library on my Mac, it removed some of my purchased-elsewhere music from my hard drive, because of a bug that made it think that stuff was from Apple Music.
I would turn it on just on my phone, but then I have no way to add music that's not available in AM to my phone, because you can no longer sync from your Mac if you have iCloud Music Library enabled on your phone. And AM without iCloud Music Library is streaming only without being able to make playlists (even streaming-only playlists), so it's pretty handicapped.
I agree and disagree. When it comes to the Mac App Store, the revenue it generates is not worth the effort. The Mac App Store isn't nearly as successful as the iOS App Store, so going through the approval process becomes pointless. However, the success on the iOS App Store reverses that story. For those rejected, the heartache / headache makes sense. But for those of us that have not been rejected, there's no heartache nor headache ... the iOS App Store actually makes things much easier.
Good point that on iOS you have no other way to sell (by Apple's decree). And even if the App Store on iOS had actual competition at this point (or if devs could sell iOS apps direct), it might be too late to be meaningful since most people have been trained to use/trust the App Store and their credit card is already on file there. IMO, that's the one real benefit users get out of it - virtually frictionless purchases, and that is worth something.
While Apple does have somewhat of an unfair advantage, spotify did ultimately agree to their terms. I'm sure they are going to pull the in app purchases as soon as they get as many customers as they can onboard. They are probably going to lose a few. In the process though, especially when people find out they've been jacking them up to cover the fee. Personally, I prefer pandora. It's half the price......actually the free version is quite good. As far as music library, I'd rather buy 8 or 10 songs a month, and then they are mine, and I don't lose them when I stop paying a subscription.