Spotify Pens Joint Letter Calling Apple 'Harmful' and 'Anti-Competitive,' Claims App Store Ruins Business

Spotify and eight companies and associations have written a letter to the EU Commission's executive vice president calling Apple a harmful, anti-competitive, and monopolistic company that must be regulated through "urgent action."

Apple vs Spotify feature2
The letter, signed by the CEOs and heads of Basecamp, Deezer, Proton, Schibsted, Spotify, European Publishers Council (EPC), France Digitale, and News Media Europe, was sent to Margrethe Vestager of the EU. The letter urges the EU to take regulatory action and conclude an ongoing investigation triggered by Spotify against Apple's app distribution practices.

The group claims Apple's App Store has hindered their businesses and consistently makes it difficult for them to grow due to the platform's policies and its "capricious changes to terms and conditions."

For years, Apple has imposed unfair restrictions on our businesses. These restrictions hamper our development and harm European consumers. They include the tying of the App Store to Apple's proprietary payment system, with its excessive commissions for app developers; the creation of artificial obstacles that prevent our businesses from freely communicating with our customers; restrictions to developers' access to data of their own users; and capricious changes to terms and conditions. Apple benefits from a monopoly position over its mobile ecosystem and extracts exorbitant rents from app developers who have no choice but to remain on the App Store to reach European consumers.

"The time has come for urgent action from the EU to end Apple's abusive behaviors," the letter says, citing the newly passed Digital Markets Act (DMA) and calling for its swift enforcement. "The EU has the opportunity to take the lead, but it must act fast, as every day that passes is a loss for innovation and for the welfare of European consumers," it continues.

In April 2021, the EU published the Commission's Statement of Objections against Apple, outlining its findings after an investigation of unfair ‌App Store‌ practices. In the statement, the EU said Apple "abused its dominant position for the distribution of music streaming apps through its ‌App Store‌" and that it takes issue with the "mandatory use of Apple's own in-app purchase mechanism imposed on music streaming app developers to distribute their apps." Now, the group of companies claims these alleged wrongdoings are experienced by "countless other app providers" and not just music streaming apps.

We therefore call for a rapid decision in the competition case against Apple for its illegal, anti-competitive behavior involving music streaming services. Many of the anti-competitive behaviors described in the Commission's Statement of Objections against Apple are felt not only by music streaming services but by countless other app providers who wish to offer goods and services via the iOS App Store. That Statement of Objections is nearly two years old and the abuses and consumer harm will continue until a remedy is enforced. Beyond the specific App Store case, the EU authorities urgently need to look at Apple's abusive behavior in other areas as well, such as publishing, web software, communications, and marketplaces.

Apple has been repeatedly accused of unfair and anti-competitive business practices in its ‌App Store‌, with Spotify being one of the most vocal critics. In October, Spotify published a press release accusing Apple of damaging "Spotify's and other developers' abilities to provide a seamless user experience" and stated these restrictions "hurt both creators and consumers alike."

Although Spotify has been vocal about its disapproval of Apple's ‌App Store‌, the music streaming service has neglected widespread requests to add HomePod support to its app, despite many of its competitors doing so. As a result, some Spotify customers have switched to other platforms, such as Apple Music. In an independent blog post on its website this week, Spotify said, "Apple has been enabled by the lack of decisive action by regulators, who continue to move hesitantly, even in the face of a groundswell of support."

Top Rated Comments

Marshall73 Avatar
9 months ago
I think Spotify are doing fine and are experts in anti competitive behaviour themselves.
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
9 months ago
This is like a dog barking at a passerby
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
9 months ago
I am curious as to what exactly they want the EU to do, since the letter is vague on specifics in that regard.

It increasingly sounds like these companies want all the advantages of the App Store (it allows them instant access to Apple's user base), without having to contribute a single cent to help upkeep the App Store. I would compare this as being akin to jumping over the turnstile at the train station. Want to take the metro, but don't want to pay the fare.

And finally, I will argue that the App Store policies are what result in the greatest benefit for the greatest number of users. If you poll users, I am willing to bet that the majority do not exactly hate closed ecosystems, and have little interest in the sort of change these companies are trying to usher in.

Make no mistake. Remember the names of each and every one of these companies and their CEOs. They are not doing this for the benefit or empowerment of users. They simply want more power, and they will happily burn the App Store model to the ground to get it.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J___o___h___n Avatar
9 months ago
But doesn’t Spotify make most of its money from Apple users who download their app via the Apple App Store?
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wbeasley Avatar
9 months ago

This is like a dog barking at a passerby
or a dog that bites the hand of the feeder...
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tdar Avatar
9 months ago
All of these people need to get over themselves. You try to run a business and provide the credit card service costs, the sales tax collection, the marketing costs, the advertising costs, and the website costs, along with the cost of downloading the app. Oh and you provide over a billion customers for the service. And after you do all that, let’s look at what it costs you. I guarantee that it is more than 30 percent of the cost.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17 and iPhones Feature

iOS 17: 10 New Features That Just Launched

Sunday September 17, 2023 12:35 pm PDT by
In June, Apple announced iOS 17 with a wide range of new features and changes for the iPhone. Following over three months of beta testing, the free software update will be released this Monday, September 18 for the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have recapped 10 key features coming to the iPhone with iOS 17, with additional features coming later this year. The update should be released to...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 17 With StandBy, Live Voicemail, Improved Autocorrect, FaceTime Video Messages and Tons More

Monday September 18, 2023 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, the latest operating system updates that are designed for the iPhone and iPad. As with all of Apple's software updates, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 are available for free. iOS 17 is compatible with the iPhone XR/iPhone XS and later, while iPadOS 17 runs on the iPad mini 5 and later, the iPad 6 and later, iPad Air 3 and later, the second-generation 12.9-inch...
flighty standby

Best Apps With New iOS 17 and watchOS 10 Features

Monday September 18, 2023 3:02 pm PDT by
With the release of a new operating system, there are multiple features and design elements for developers to adopt. Now that iOS 17 is out, many major apps are getting interesting updates today, which we've rounded up below. watchOS 10 also has a new design language, so there are a range of Apple Watch updates to check out too. Flighty (Free, Premium Subscription) Popular flight tracking...