“It continues a troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music, particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple’s previous anticompetitive conduct aimed at Spotify … we can not stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors”. Spotify has blamed Apple for blocking its update in order to have more number of customers on its competitive service. Instead, users must pay through Spotify’s specific billing website.
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Spotify knew that it had fallen into the crosshairs of a corporate behemoth when Apple Music emerged on the scene previous year.
Spotify’s latest spat with Apple started when the iOS-maker rejected an update to the Spotify app for iOS. Basically, Spotify accused Apple of making it harder for them to compete by delaying updated versions of their app on iTunes. In March, Spotify announced that it has 30 mill8ion paying subscribers. For Apple Music, that charge is merely moving money around within the company.
Another option with Spotify is to knock the doors of regulators, but Windsor mentioned that it could not even do that as it requires a lot of fortune and is quite time consuming, nothing of which Spotify could afford. Now, little more than a year after Apple launched its rival music streaming service, things are getting ugly.
The streaming giant’s grievance stems from Apple’s upcharge on all in-app purchases.
Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell, in a letter to his Spotify counterpart, stated the company is seeking a portion of the transaction as a means to support the Apple Store in the first place.
According to Recode, privately owned Spotify said Apple turned down the app under “business model rules”, and demanded the Swedish service use Apple’s billing system if it wanted to “use the app to acquire new customers and sell subscriptions”.
Sewell further claimed that Spotify has only benefited from its relationship with Apple.
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Experts were of the view that Spotify is a service whose success is on mobile platforms. The music streamer now possesses exclusive deals with some of the hottest artists, including songs by Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna and yes, even Taylor Swift. Lately, Apple has reduced the margin it takes to 15%, and now it is being said that Spotify will be affected by it. On the battle front, Spotify is fighting with Apple for the full rights to its profits.
