Spotify Wants 'Same Treatment' as Other Apps in Apple Store, Says EC Complaint
Apple continues to give itself “an unfair advantage at every turn,” said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in a Wednesday blog post. His company's antitrust complaint against Apple was filed Monday with the European Commission.
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Spotify alleges Apple purposely limited choice and stifled innovation, “acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers.” As owner of the iOS platform and the App Store, Apple is a competitor to other streaming services, said Ek, and it's asking the EC to act to “ensure fair competition.”
Apple requires other digital services to pay a 30 percent tax on purchases made through its In-App Purchase (IAP) payment system, including when customers upgrade from Spotify’s free tier to its premium service, said Ek. Paying that would force Spotify to “artificially inflate” its Premium membership fee “well above the price of Apple Music.” If other music services choose not to use Apple’s payment system to avoid the tax, “Apple then applies a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions,” he said.
Those restrictions include companies’ communication with their customers, “including our outreach beyond the app,” Ek said. In some cases, "we aren’t even allowed to send emails to our customers who use Apple,” said the executive, saying Apple also routinely blocks upgrades that improve the user experience. It also locked Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod and Apple Watch, he said.
Spotify isn’t “seeking special treatment,” Ek said, but wants the same treatment as other apps on Apple’s store, including Uber and Deliveroo, that aren’t subject to the 30 percent tax and don’t face the same restrictions. The complaint asks that all App Store apps be subject to the same rules and restrictions, “including Apple Music”; that consumers should have a choice of payment systems and not be forced to use systems with “discriminatory tariffs” such as Apple’s; and that app stores shouldn’t be allowed to control communication between services and users, “including placing unfair restrictions on marketing and promotions that benefit consumers.”
Apple didn’t comment Wednesday.
Spotify posted a timeline infographic, Time to Play Fair, spelling out its case against Apple since the iPhone launched, saying “Apple’s behavior isn’t new. In fact, there are countless times over the years that demonstrate that they don’t play fair." The timeline starts with 2007 when Apple didn’t initially allow outside apps but then reversed course to sell more phones. Spotify became available on the iPhone in 2008. Siri launched in 2011 “and still won’t talk to us today,” it says.