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Spotify Says Apple One Bundle Will Cause 'Irreparable Harm to Developer Community'
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Awful? I used Apple Music for about two years until I tried and then switched to Spotify. I did not notice any UI annoyances, there was basically no learning curve. And the automatic music selection seemed to work better for me, my main reason for switching.
Oh Spotify DO bundle, just not with other software providers.
They bundle their services with heavily discounted subscriptions to Network providers and pre-installed apps on a massive number of devices e.g. Smart TV's, Android Boxes, Phones.
I've got massive discounts on Spotify and Netflix from my mobile carrier for years by way of discount codes, are you going to tell me the carrier or cellphone manufacturer doesn't have direct contact them to provide those deals ?
They worked a business deal. When these occur both sides usually give up something. Amazon doesn't pay 30% on iOS but AppleTV+ app is on the FireStick. Also Amazon started selling AppleTV devices again.
Would it not be a great thing if Apple enabled people to buy app bundles in the AppStore? I mean, that developers of different apps can join together and offer their apps bundled cosily on the plattform? The initiative could come from any of the three or more parties.
That model would be capping the revenue per user for the developers, but that doesn’t necessarily means a lower revenue in total...
That model would be capping the revenue per user for the developers, but that doesn’t necessarily means a lower revenue in total...
I have songs that I have downloaded from my own files to Itunes. I could add local files to Spotify, but if I wanted to shuffle my entire library, which I like to do, those songs are not included, so I have to make a big master playlist for all the songs I have, and then pick and choose what songs I want and which I don't. I found it a lot of work to organize everything, while Itunes basically does it for me. I also am fond of various stats like Play Count and when a song was last played and Spotify doesn't have that.
I did like Spotify for it's playlists, daily mixes, and ease of the like button actually on the player though, but I have been using Itunes for more than 10 years and I was just more comfortable with it. Different strokes and all that.
The problem is that as an application developer you have no choice but to be cashed 30% on each sale. There is no way to install Spotify or any other software outside of the Apple Store. There is no way to sell subscriptions outside of the Apple Store on the device. The thing is that all of the software is much more expensive on Apple Store and I am surprised that everyone is happy about it. First you pay horrible amount of money for a device and than Apple cashes YOU 30% on each app you buy. Make no mistake, except for few subscription services like Spotify, the software devs are pushing commission to YOU. Check out prices of similar games on Google Play.
Like accross the border of developer accounts? I’d doubt it. Bundles inside one and the same developers app range, okay, but not beyond.
I would like Spotify to explain how it affects developers and not just them? Spotify are a one trick pony Apple offer many services and are bundling them to provide a value option for its customers. Apple are not forcing this on customers, you can still sign up to only Apple Music, or TV+ or Arcade etc. If you already subscribe to a few of these then the bundle is a good thing. If you only have Apple Music then you are not going to immediately sign up for a bundle. And again, how does this impede developers??
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Apple already allow developers to sell bundles of apps in the App Store. Normally apps by the same developer though.
Huh ? I just opened a browser window rather than use the App. Thats how I subscribed to Spotify.
Spotify did a good job of letting me about their product via advertising, I didn't need to use the App for that and as a result Apple won't get a cut of any subscription fee.
If normal advertising is not how you desire to sell subscriptions and instead and you prefer to promote "App-first" or depend on the App Store to find you those subscribers then you pay your 30% commission to Apple.
Ah, yes, Spotify's integration of user files does not seem well developed, that is true. I never really tried it, and basically stick to separate apps for streaming vs files. I was not entirely happy with Apple Music's way of handling it either, with the search function split between files and streaming, and mixed playlists that worked in AM were not fully functional in exercise apps with music integration - but AM still does this better than Spotify, no doubt.
Like I've mentioned above, it's affecting non-Apple developers in such a way that Apple gets 30% of their sales, so it gives Apple huge competitive advantage on the Apple Store. It especially hurts subscription services like Spotify, which has to pay tantiems for the music and reduces the profit drastically. Mind also, that selling your service outside of the application is difficult. In most cases these 30% is just taken from YOU in addition for overpaying for your Apple phone/tablet (compare prices of games on Apple Store and Google Play). Ultimately the Apple's policy is hurting YOU, because you have to pay much more than Android users for the same stuff and the competition is much more limited on subscription services.
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Ok, fair point, but honestly, on Android device I don't have to go to the browser for that. The commision there is low enough for everyone to actually integrate with the store in-built payments, so I don't need to find workarounds. That's another reason why Apple's policy is hurting their users and app developers. For me it's completely ridiculous.
I thought android has exactly the same rules and takes the exact same 30% cut. This is why fortnight got booted from google play at the same time it got booted from the app store. They made their own payment systeem in app, which is not allowed by either.
let’s hope they add the ability to change billing date while they are at it
You're right! It's 30% as well. I think the main difference is that Google allows you to perform payments outside of their shop.
Getting fed up of Spotify's whinging. I use Spotify but they're giving me more reason to move back to Apple Music, and now these bundles are making it a very tempting move.
Spotify bundle things too - sure they're not owned by them but, as people have mentioned, make your offering more attractive instead of moaning. Still no offline Watch playback!!
Spotify bundle things too - sure they're not owned by them but, as people have mentioned, make your offering more attractive instead of moaning. Still no offline Watch playback!!
Spotify needn't worry as long as their product as better, for example the recommendations are better and it's much easier to stream music over to devices that aren't made by Apple. As much as I like iPhones and Macs I mostly use them to access third party services - immersing yourself fully into the Apple ecosystem is a fool's game IMO as it's horrendously expensive and you're stuck with "jack of all trades, master of none". It's also very difficult to unpick it all all if you ever change your mind.
For the millionth time in every one of these threads....Apple doesn’t have a monopoly in any market that they operate AND, it’s not illegal to have a monopoly on your own products anyway. If Apple wanted to give their services away and not charge at all - that too would be completely legal.
Hobbling one company to benefit a less competitive one is the definition of anti-competitive.
It doesn’t. This is just one of another case of a company attempting to wage war on the App Store in a bid to weaken Apple’s control of the App Store to their advantage, by trying to paint everything that Apple does as somehow being anti-competitive or bad for users.
And considering how Spotify is now offering podcasts in addition to music streaming, they really have no right to accuse other companies of bundling multiple services together.
It’s not hard to see why. Apple is pulling away from the competition, and their desperation shows.
Imagine the uproar if Apple offered all it’s services for free? “That’s not fair! How can we compete?” — Netflix, Spotify, Epic, Newspaper, Cloud Providers etc.