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Normally I am in the "so don't use the platform" camp -- for example, with Epic. It gets dicier here though, because Apple competes directly in the streaming music space. The fact Spotify has to pay 30% to do in-app subs, and Apple Music does not because it's a 1P app, means Apple is leveraging it's platform ownership into a significant competitive advantage over all 3P apps. Pay to play for something like a game is fine in my view, because it's not like Apple has a competing version of Fortnight that's benefiting. In the music space it's different, because Apple Music has a huge advantage over 3P competitors in terms of being able to charge less to earn the same revenue, while still offering in-app subs.

If I were Apple's legal counsel, I'd strongly advise them to at the very least allow linkouts to the web for subscriptions where the app in question offers a service that competes with one Apple offers.
So you are also advocating that Amazon allows external links inside its application? That would be great. I could search for something, find what I like and then use the external link to find it cheaper at the vendors website. But what I don’t get is would Amazon have to deliver it for free too?

man what a great idea that’s genius.
 
I can agree that apple has the right to its cut on payments done through App Store, but apple not allowing Spotify to direct people to its website seems shady
So if you open a store and I have a product you sell in your store. You make a profit on every on of those sales. You even help me build my business and your heavy marketing and customer loyalty is why I’m there.

Now even though you are much small than your competitors you are more profitable. Would you allow me to come into your store and put stickers on my product telling them to buy online directly from me instead of buying at your store. Even better if you have a online store, would you allow me to redirect the customers to buy cheaper from me in the product description? No. That would be foolish.
 
Again, should Best Buy allow free items to exist on their shelves, advertised by them, traffic created by them, etc. with a label on the item that says pay for activation at www.websitex.com?

Even if its not free, if the item has a price tag of $19.99 but a sticker on it says "or pay for me at www.websitex.com and pay only $14.99" no retailer on the planet would allow that.
Bad analogy.

Should Best Buy be able to stop free or paid items from being sold by other stores, even if the product manufacturer does not have a relationship with Best Buy, would be a much better analogy.
 
what will happen if Spotify is removed from the App store, or it they withdraw from the App Store?
How many iOS users will switch to Android?
And how many iOS users will switch to another music streaming service? Spotify seems to have a strong following.
Just curious.
 
While I generally think it’s fair for Apple to charge some commission I do think in markets it directly competes in it should waive that fee otherwise it’s an amazon situation with its Amazon basics brand. I don’t think it’s fair to own the platform, and also compete with apps on that platform in a way that directly disadvantages your competitors. At the very least in cases like music streaming the developers like Spotify should be able to direct people to sign up online without the 30% cut to Apple.
 
If you don’t like it start your own suite of products and your own app store
That is exactly what they want but Apple won’t let them. Apple has a stranglehold on the sale and distribution of iOS apps. You can’t buy them anywhere else. That is the whole problem. Imagine if you could only buy milk from one store and nowhere else and when you complain someone says drink orange juice instead. It’s ludicrous.
 
If your comment is about Spotify, then please note you can subscribe over the web without needing to go through the App Store. But of course your comment is not about that at all, it is just more anti-Apple sentiment
my comment was not about spotify, but it also wasn't anti-apple. it was more about pro-consumer
 
The Spotify guy talks about it as if iOS is the only platform in the world!
At the end of the day iOS has cost billions to develop. Apple's ad fee's alone are in the billion dollars as year. They have taken numerous risks on that platform that others have laughed at (no headphone socket, walled garden etc..) so they have taken considerable risk. All of this needs to be compensated for.

You can't spend billions and billions of dollars building a customer base, an OS with api's etc.. so that anyone can sit on that platform and make money from your hard work. Hell no!

People need to remember that Windows is a paid for product. Android is paid for via its search business etc.. And even then there are multiple OEM's sharing the burden of creating these platforms. Apple is on its own. If something doesn't work (HomePods etc..) they eat the cost. Thats the risk of doing business.

Spotify seem to imply there is no risk to Apple doing business. As if the platform just exists out of thin air for everyone to make money off it. Just like any physical store, people spent money to build it, to advertise it, and get people into the store. No store on earth says go and buy this shirt next door where its cheaper.

At the end of the day, if 30% is too high then developers will move elsewhere and innovate on other platforms. Nothing is stopping them. There is no need to legislate where there is no monopoly. Let the market decide, just as we have always done.
They spend a ton on supporting it too
 
Normally I am in the "so don't use the platform" camp -- for example, with Epic. It gets dicier here though, because Apple competes directly in the streaming music space. The fact Spotify has to pay 30% to do in-app subs, and Apple Music does not because it's a 1P app, means Apple is leveraging it's platform ownership into a significant competitive advantage over all 3P apps. Pay to play for something like a game is fine in my view, because it's not like Apple has a competing version of Fortnight that's benefiting. In the music space it's different, because Apple Music has a huge advantage over 3P competitors in terms of being able to charge less to earn the same revenue, while still offering in-app subs.

If I were Apple's legal counsel, I'd strongly advise them to at the very least allow linkouts to the web for subscriptions where the app in question offers a service that competes with one Apple offers.
So you are also advocating that Amazon allows external links inside its application? That would be great. I could search for something, find what I like and then use the external link to find it cheaper at the vendors website. But what I don’t get is would Amazon have to deliver it for free too?

man what a great idea that’s genius.
Anyone who downvoted this statement permits their agenda to overlook an uncounterable argument. This is pure truth.
how many ways can you call BS? You can choose to sell your app in the App Store or offer it as a free download/install with external activation and payment bypassing any commission to Apple. You really don’t get this, or just not thinking about it?
 
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Are you actually hearing yourself?

Even Microsoft couldn’t do that with their insane amount of money.

And?

As Apple have found out with Apple TV+, it’s not that easy to run a video streaming service.

Microsoft failed not because they tried but because the market didn’t like what they offered.
 
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how many ways can you call BS? You can choose to sell your app in the App Store or offer it as a free download/install with external activation and payment bypassing any commission to Apple. You really don’t get this, or just not thinking about it?
Did you even read the comment I replied to? Your argument is not a compatible rebuttal. It’s simply another argument which I did not address, nor will address.
 
These are rather problematic, not just Music, but also the other categories where Apple directly competes with others in the App Store, like Fitness and Video Streaming.

It's a difficult position to compete from if you have to give 30% revenue to your competitor to begin with.
In which case the wise business decision would be not to compete on iPhone and focus on other platforms instead. At which point either customers complain enough/abandon iPhone or the company decides “hey the 30/15% cut is worth it for easy access to all those customers”.

Of course Apple has an advantage y being the platform owner, that’s a big reason why you want to create a platform to begin with. And it would be a problem if Apple was the only game in town but it’s not. Spotify DOES want special treatment, it wants to benefit from the platform Apple creates and grows without contributing. No thanks.
 
apple's closed ecosystem is very well becoming a monopoly. apple may have the legal high grounds, but their strict rules along with perhaps some weak competition, is overall screwing the consumers. even if i think apple has the legal high grounds against Epic, i still hope they lose.
Apple a monopoly? Nope. Android says hello.
 
Is there anything stopping Spotify launching their own mobile phone?
Nope. or Store. When in doubt: go through the courts or congress. The 'new' American way. Funny how Tesla 'just did it..(Nike)' rather than sue and complain and complain and sue.
 
Think about the App Store like a really nice shopping mall. Businesses pay rent, but they don't pay a percentage of their sales. Seems like Apple needs to offer some additional business models for in app purchase instead of taking 30% cut.
This is most assuredly not true. Percentage leases are quite common in retail. Let's take your suggestion.

Apple can institute a "fixed lease" to distribute on the App Store. That fixed lease may consist of:
  • $250,000 per year developer program fee
  • $25,000 per month "store rent"
So, the fixed lease may cost a developer $550,000 per year, but all sales are theirs to keep and they must provide their own payment mechanism and sales support processes. Apple will provide first line support related to delivery and install of the apps.


Alternatively, you can sign up for the "percentage lease." That lease may consist of:
  • $99 per year developer program fee
  • 30% commission on all sales (initial and IAP)
In this case apple provides all payment operations, including billing, refunds, global tax payment and accounting, tax reporting, product delivery and core operational support.

In both leases Apple provides software delivery, store reviews up to x-number per year, and access to all developer tools and support programs.

Now it is up to you as the seller to determine the best option. Oh, and don't forget that the fixed lease option is generally tiered with gross sales maximum. That means if the plan above is limited to $10 million in gross sales then when you hit the $10,000,001 in sales your store rent can go up to the next documented tier (say $50,000 per month).

More that I think on it - I like your idea. Let Apple set this program up and it would most likely be endorsed by all the governmental bodies. Then Epic with their $1 billion is gross revenues could be in the $2,500,000 per month fixed rent plan. The rest of the developers not-so-vocal majority that are fine with the current policies are not affected. Yes, this will likely cause Apple to take a bit of a hit in services revenue, but that what everyone here seems to want anyway.
 
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Again, should Best Buy allow free items to exist on their shelves, advertised by them, traffic created by them, etc. with a label on the item that says pay for activation at www.websitex.com?

Even if its not free, if the item has a price tag of $19.99 but a sticker on it says "or pay for me at www.websitex.com and pay only $14.99" no retailer on the planet would allow that.
THANK YOU!

These busybodies just don't get it, and they don't want to. They will jump through mental hurdles to avoid the obvious: Apple is one platform in a market, they are not a monopoly, and they have every right to set the terms of entry to their specific platform. There are other MORE AFFORDABLE AND VERY ROBUST options for consumers. This is stretching the idea of monopoly beyond any legitimacy, and of course courts and politicians are happy to play along because they love calling the shots.
 
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I wouldn’t be surprised if Google or Microsoft buy Spotify before the year’s out.

We’ve got to a point where it’s nearly impossible for start-ups to grow beyond medium sized companies without having to be acquired by one of the top 5-10 tech mega companies.

If they don’t they’ll go out of business, as usually they can’t compete at scale and/or the bundling that these bigger companies offer, if they decide to compete.

Is see Teams vs Slack. As soon as Teams was released it was basically game over for Slack.

Should we concerned about this? I think that we should.
 
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Amid the ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple, Spotify's chief legal officer and head of global affairs Horacio Gutierrez penned an anti-App Store op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, where he summarizes Spotify's issues Apple.

spotify-complaint-apple-eu.jpg

Gutierrez says that Spotify is one of the few companies that insists Apple is a "ruthless bully that uses its dominance to hobble competitors."

Spotify has long been upset with Apple's App Store fees, as the 15 to 30 percent cut that Apple takes from subscriptions means that Spotify has to either raise its prices for those who sign up via the App Store or decline to offer subscriptions on iOS at all, which is what Spotify has opted for.

Apple's "antisteering" rules prevent Spotify from directing iPhone and iPad customers to the Spotify website to sign up, which Spotify argues gives Apple Music some major advantages.

Gutierrez points out the many regulatory issues that Apple is facing in Europe and the United States. The European Commission in April found that Apple breached EU competition law with Apple Music, and in April, the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee questioned Apple's App Store policies. Spotify, Tile, and others attended the latter hearing and said that if Apple's App Store rules aren't changed, Apple will take over the internet, "limiting innovation, squashing small businesses, and all but eliminating customer choice."

Spotify is asking the U.S. to speed up its regulatory initiatives against Apple with "urgent, narrowly tailored updates" to antitrust law to "end such egregious abuses."

Gutierrez says that Spotify isn't asking for special treatment, but wants "fair treatment," and he sums up his piece by stating that Apple's "ability to strangle its competitors is unprecedented." He says that those in a position "to do something" have now "seen past Apple's facade" and are now acting on the behalf of "innovators and consumers around the world."

Article Link: Spotify Legal Chief: 'Apple's Ability to Strangle its Competitors is Unprecedented'

"Google Previews Android 12 With Deeper Customization and iOS 14-Inspired Privacy Protections"....Think about it.......!

 
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