23 February 2024 , 11:56
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Apple has fired back at Spotify over its ongoing competition complaint with the EU, which could soon see Apple slapped with a massive fine.
This comes after reports that the EU has finished investigating Spotify's claims of unfair play by Apple regarding its App Store rules and is ready to issue a hefty 500 million euro fine. Apple accuses Spotify of wanting "limitless" access to its tools without paying.
In 2019, Spotify lodged a complaint with the EU, arguing that Apple's App Store rules limit choice and competition because it charges a 30% fee on purchases made through the store including music streaming subscriptions. Spotify says this is an unfair "tax", and that Apple's own competing Apple Music streaming service doesn't have to pay the same fees, giving it an unfair leg up.
The Swedish music giant also argues that Apple's rules stop it from telling users about cheaper ways to subscribe outside of the App Store. Reports earlier this week suggested that the European Commission is close to wrapping up its investigation and Apple could be facing a 500 million euro fine.
Responding to these reports on Thursday night, the US tech giant said that Spotify doesn't offer subscriptions via the App Store and therefore doesn't pay Apple any commission in the EU.
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"We're happy to support the success of all developers - including Spotify, which is the largest music streaming app in the world," Apple said. "Spotify pays Apple nothing for the services that have helped them build, update and share their app with Apple users in 160 countries spanning the globe."
"Fundamentally, their complaint is about trying to get limitless access to all of Apple's tools without paying anything for the value Apple provides."
The big tech company also said that Spotify could tell people how to sign up on their own website but they don't. Even though Spotify says it's not fair and they can't show users how to subscribe, they've still become the top digital music business in Europe.
Apple also said that Spotify and other music services can talk to customers in many ways, like emails or social media, to tell them how to join without using the App Store. Lastly, Apple criticised the EU regulators. They said that even after looking into this for about 10 years, the European Commission hasn't found any proof that Apple has done anything wrong or found any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour by the firm in this market.
The iPhone maker said the investigation could just cement Spotify’s dominant position as the market leader, rather than promote competition.
In 2019, when Spotify lodged its complaint, the company's founder Daniel Ek wrote in a blog post that Apple had "introduced rules to the app store that purposely limit choice and stifle innovation".
He accused Apple of "essentially acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers". Ek also claimed that "They continue to give themselves an unfair advantage at every turn,". He explained: "Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple's payment system, including upgrading from our free to our premium service."
He added: "If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our premium membership well above the price of Apple Music. And to keep our price competitive for our customers, that isn't something we can do."
Ek also alleged that Apple applied "a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions" on Spotify when it chose not to use Apple's payment system, including, he claimed, blocking some app updates at times.