Spotify Files Complaint Against Apple With European Regulators Over 'Unfair' App Store Practices

[jakebrosy]

This confounds me. I love me some Spotify. But after reading this crap, and discussing it with the hubby, he canceled our Spotify Family subscription this morning.

I understand that Spotify must pay Apple a commission (not a tax) on sales & subscriptions through the App Store. An App Store (and ecosystem) that Apple built and one Spotify happily uses.

It is mind-boggling to me that Spotify is happy to take advantage of the system (and millions billions of customers) Apple created--but does not want to pay the commission Spotify AGREED TO when putting Spotify in the App Store.

I hate whiners. And I have no patience for sniveling losers who want to ride the coat tails of the successful and complain that the road is bumpy.

I can't wait to read the "Spotify is Shuttering" press release. I will happily dance on their digital grave.

 

[Jdshewman]

The best thing Apple fans can do is response is cancel any Spotify subscriptions. Hopefully though, very few of us are giving money to Spotify anyway. Apple Music is superior in every way IMHO.

As you stated that is your opinion, but as a person who lives in the Apple eco-system I can tell you, in my opinion, Spotify is far superior. Living in SoCal I know many people in the music industry and they prefer Spotify. Apple couldn't curate a decent playlist without a bunch of corproate garbage. Apple Music is bloated with endless crap. I hop on Spotify I get great curated playlist and I create my own. In most cases, too much is too intrusive.

 

[now i see it]

Spotify has a point. Both hosting & competing in the App Store creates an unfair monopoly. But then again, everything about  is proprietary and if you don't like how  has rigged the game- go over to Android. Being able to sell anything in the App Store is a privledge, not a right.

 

[BlunaLuna]

I worship the apple store, because it provides me 99.99% malware free apps for iOS. But this comes at a price, there is a good reason why the Mac/OSX-store is only 0.01% of all available OSX apps.

With iOS getting more and more mature, the pegged iOS competition results in apps with unnecessary loss in variability and ingenuity. Clearly Spotify & Co are at a greater disadvantage here that on Android.

If Apple doesn't find a way for clever adjustment, they will progressively fall behind Android competition - just because Apple fences out too much competition on their own turf.

30/15% was OK when this business was young, now with a market this big, that is approaching extortion.

 

[Jsameds]

Good article here on what Apple do for the 30% fee

https://www.igeeksblog.com/why-app-store-is-charging-30-percent-commission/

Briefly: Payment clearing, fraud protection, indemnity, insurance, dunning, Local Tax Law Enforcement, a Content Distribution Network and DRM.

 

[PlayUltimate]

Spotify has more paid subscribers than Apple Music. This is a well known fact.

If Apple were to cancel all subscription payments paid via the App Store, they would be open to class action lawsuits and a host of other legal issues.

Spotify has a point here.
Apple is not only the owner of the App Store, they are also a competitor offering the exact same type of service.
Having a built in 30% “fee” is the epitome of an unfair advantage.
They are simply acting as a card processor in the transaction. The average processing fee is 5% or less literally everywhere else.
That would be fair.

How is this situation any different from the grocery stores selling their brand alongside the "name" brand? The grocery store brand is always cheaper. Or Traders Joes, Whole Foods not even offering the name brands.

Further, Apple is not just a card processor. They build, maintain, provide the mechanism for delivery, and provide the financial backing for the store. There is a cost for doing so.

 

[MacBH928]

and this is why 2019 will not be like 2019...

That ban from using Siri, yes I would call it bullying into a monopoly, maybe they will create a new smartphone OS competitor...and so is life.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

This confounds me. I love me some Spotify. But after reading this crap, and discussing it with the hubby, he canceled our Spotify Family subscription this morning.

I understand that Spotify must pay Apple a commission (not a tax) on sales & subscriptions through the App Store. An App Store (and ecosystem) that Apple built and one Spotify happily uses.

It is mind-boggling to me that Spotify is happy to take advantage of the system (and millions billions of customers) Apple created--but does not want to pay the commission Spotify AGREED TO when putting Spotify in the App Store.

I hate whiners. And I have no patience for sniveling losers who want to ride the coat tails of the successful and complain that the road is bumpy.

I can't wait to read the "Spotify is Shuttering" press release. I will happily dance on their digital grave.

You read this biased-based article and cancelled a service that you supposedly "love". Man, people are mind-boggling or just, plain stu...

 

[Defthand]

Not to mention that ONE of the primary reasons Apple created the app store to begin with was to be able to control the experience for the purposes of security, elimination of viruses and evilness, etc.

I’ve heard that claim a lot. Show me where/when Apple itself even inferred that. Despite the assumption of added security, dishonest apps have unexplainably evaded Apple’s scrutiny. It has been users and outside parties—not Apple—who discovered the offenders.

 

[jpn]

apple will eventually need to give in to this.
apple can get around it by making two app marketplaces, totally separate, one for apps that are developed and made by apple alone, and the other a marketplace that sells all apps except its own.
it can have its apps free of charge. and the other one that sells others' apps apple can take any commission that the market can bear.
it can set policies and enforce whatever rules it wants.

owning the store is not a problem.
its that app's own apps that it can promote put other apps at a disadvantage, and, that they compete in the same store.
separate the stores, and, there is no problem.

 

[mrow]

They are simply acting as a card processor in the transaction. The average processing fee is 5% or less literally everywhere else.
That would be fair.

Wrong. Apple is not just acting at the payment processor. They are also acting as a retailer. It may not be a physical retailer but they are still a retailer. Is Amazon “simply a payment processor” to third party goods they sell in their store?

 

[DaveMcM76]

But Apple doesn’t have to be the one processing the payment. If you buy something from the Amazon app, Apple doesn’t process that. Why should they force users to pay for Spotify with an in app purchase? Sure, it makes sense to just sign-up through the Spotify website, but Apple doesn’t allow them to put a link to their website in the app.

Same goes for Kindle books. If you have the Kindle app, you should be able to make purchases through the app with your Amazon account, but that is totally banned due to this anti-competitive practice.

I’m almost surprised I can buy things using the Chrome browser on random websites on my iPhone without giving Apple 30%

The difference is Apple seem to make a distinction between payments for digital content / subscriptions vs physical goods / services as far as the in app purchase fee is concerned. Uber and Amazon apps provide physical products / services and so these don't count as "in app purchases" and so there is no requirement to pay the 30% whereas the kindle app and spotify are providing digital content which Apple does class as an In App Purchase and so these would get hit by the 30% fee. This is why amazon choose not to let you purchase books through the Kindle app to avoid this but instead make you purchase via the amazon web site and then download that purchase in the app.

 

[Abazigal]

Spotify will win. Look how the EU commission heavily fined google.

You will have to prove that Apple is a monopoly first, and given the smaller market share of iOS relative to Google, that's a hard case to make.

 

[Enlightened Doggo]

Apple is far from the only company making phones or using an App Store. Spotify can go elsewhere. Nothing requires Apple to even let them on their App Store.

There is only one app store people can use with the iPhone though. The 30% fee seemed justifiable up until the point they released a product at a price that was literally their competitor's price minus the app store fee. Contrast this to supermarkets, where they purchase product from vendors and then mark it up for a profit. It is not anti-competitive for supermarkets to have generics, because a) there are other supermarkets to buy food from, and b) they are purchasing the product from vendors in the first place and thus taking on risk.

 

[mrow]

Spotify has a point. Both hosting & competing in the App Store creates an unfair monopoly. But then again, everything about  is proprietary and if you don't like how  has rigged the game- go over to Android. Being able to sell anything in the App Store is a privledge, not a right.

Should Amazon also be banned from selling their first party Amazon Basics brand products if they compete with a third party product that is also sold on Amazon? What is the difference?

 

[eveluvsrainbows]

This confounds me. I love me some Spotify. But after reading this crap, and discussing it with the hubby, he canceled our Spotify Family subscription this morning.

I understand that Spotify must pay Apple a commission (not a tax) on sales & subscriptions through the App Store. An App Store (and ecosystem) that Apple built and one Spotify happily uses.

It is mind-boggling to me that Spotify is happy to take advantage of the system (and millions billions of customers) Apple created--but does not want to pay the commission Spotify AGREED TO when putting Spotify in the App Store.

I hate whiners. And I have no patience for sniveling losers who want to ride the coat tails of the successful and complain that the road is bumpy.

I can't wait to read the "Spotify is Shuttering" press release. I will happily dance on their digital grave.

So it looks like you don't understand much about this situation. Spotify isn't whining, they filed a complaint because Apple has unfair practices. Google does too. Apple and Google shouldn't be charging a 30% cut on purchases for their own benefit. It's wrong and it makes developers LOSE money, not gain it. And if Spotify tries to bypass the App Store for sales, they end up getting gimped by Apple. So I'd suggest you MASSIVELY re-consider your decision.

EDIT: Also, cancelling your subscription over an article you read on the internet? Get real.

 

[chelsel]

Spotify just needs to create a phone and an app store. Problem solved

 

[macguru212]

I still don't understand why I cannot use Siri to play Spotify. Or on the HomePod.
While I love iOS, I hate that Apple is intentionally damaging their user base experience for those who chose to use a competitor product instead of their own.
Remember Apple, developers are the one who made you to what you are today. If they all pull out, you have nothing left.

Sadly I no longer believe that Apple cares about the 'ones who made you what you are' crowd.

It's purely about profit now.

 

[Abazigal]

Companies like Netflix, Amazon and even Spotify should be able to get a private deal with Apple. Once the volume of purchases goes above a certain limit it would be reasonable to ask for a smaller fee instead of 30%. It isn't a good user experience to be forced to make the purchase outside the app to save money

Point is, Apple has absolutely zero incentive to agree to those terms. They are the ones who hold the power in this relationship, not Netflix or Spotify.

 

[gnipgnop]

You will have to prove that Apple is a monopoly first.

I don't think that's necessarily the case from a legal perspective. You can engage in unfair business practices without being a monopoly.

 

[PlayUltimate]

"You can't play in the neighbors yard and then complain when they turn on the sprinkler."

 

[Williesleg]

Apple doesn't prohibit Spotify from selling subscriptions outside the App Store, so this will go nowhere.
[doublepost=1552480911][/doublepost]

Kind of like McDonald's is rigged because I can't buy a Sonic hot dog there?

Completely different.
Apple controls everything in their ecosystem. Want to watch your purchased TV shows on a Roku? How about running your iOS apps on an Android device? Want to FaceTime with someone on a Windows PC?

They're all technically possible with the right software or emulation, but Tim Apple refuses to do it.

 

[Ries]

Should Amazon also be banned from selling their first party Amazon Basics brand products if they compete with a third party product that is also sold on Amazon? What is the difference?

Imagine MS enforcing that you can only use sanctioned website though edge and every sale through edge requires a 30% cut to MS. Also MS selling the same stuff as you. You can't offer your products cheaper else were (no putting the 30% cut onto the price). You're allowed show your products, but no link that shows you where to buy at a different place.

 

[realtuner]

So it looks like you don't understand much about this situation. Spotify isn't whining, they filed a complaint because Apple has unfair practices. Google does too. Apple and Google shouldn't be charging a 30% cut on purchases for their own benefit. It's wrong and it makes developers LOSE money, not gain it. And if Spotify tries to bypass the App Store for sales, they end up getting gimped by Apple. So I'd suggest you MASSIVELY re-consider your decision.

EDIT: Also, cancelling your subscription over an article you read on the internet? Get real.

They’re not unfair practices. They own the store - they make the rules.

And yes, Spotify IS whining. Daniel Ek is the biggest whiner in tech, besides Linus Torvalds.

 

[dumastudetto]

Apple Music is superior on iOS, but Spotify still has a ton of better features.

I think iOS is what matters most now. It's the superior experience platform with better apps, best-in-class versions of apps, with privacy and security fully baked in.

I can't speak for how Apple Music compares on other platforms. I don't use them. This Spotify complaint is about iOS anyway.