- General
- March 13, 2019
- 4 minutes read
Apple Faces Antitrust Complaint From Spotify
image : Apple Spotify is accusing Apple of allegedly squeezing rival music streaming services, claiming it “makes it harder and harder for…
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image : Apple
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Spotify is accusing Apple of allegedly squeezing rival music streaming services, claiming it “makes it harder and harder for companies” to offer rival streaming services “all for the sake of tilting the field to favor its own services and disadvantaging those it is playing against”. Spotify’s complaints include :
- Apple charging a “discriminatory” tax (30% fee for in-app purchases)
- Apple not letting Spotify share various deals with its users, if it chose not to use its – IAP – payment system
- Apple not allowing an “upgrade to Spotify Premium with ease”
- Apple routinely rejecting “bug fixes and app enhancements that would improve user experience and the app’s functionality”
- Apple not letting Spotify get on the HomePod and Siri virtual assistant
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| image : Apple |
It says the Cupertino, California based company imposes these rules to give “an unfair advantage over the many other services that are working hard to compete for fans”and that Apple’s 30% payment fee has led to an increase in prices for its users. It also claims it started “an intensified pattern of Spotify app rejections” and threatened to boot it out of the app store.
Spotify says Apple rejected a proposal for an Apple Watch app in 2016, before finally accepting last year, leading to the launch of an app in November. It filed a complaint with the European Commission on March 11.
