Spotify has taken a bold step in the ongoing feud between music streaming giants and Apple, by submitting a new version of their app to the App Store in the European Union. This updated version not only showcases pricing and feature options for the company’s various plans, but also provides a direct link for users to purchase subscriptions on Spotify’s website.
Just this week, Apple was slapped with a staggering fine of €1.84 billion ($2 billion) by the European Commission for their anti-competitive practices within the music streaming market. In a statement, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager stated that Apple must put an end to their “anti-steering” policies.
“Effective immediately, Apple must allow music streaming developers to communicate freely with their own users – whether it be within the app or through email – without any restrictions,” Vestager emphasized.
As a result of this decision, Spotify has seized the opportunity to submit this new version of their app in compliance with the European Commission’s regulations. The Verge reports that the app now includes detailed information on subscription options, offers, and a direct link to purchase said subscriptions.
This is a significant change for Spotify, as their previous version was notorious for not displaying prices of various plans and instead showing messages such as “You can’t upgrade to Premium in the app. We know, it’s not ideal.”
Several months earlier, Spotify alluded to implementing a series of modifications in response to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), one of which includes the ability to subscribe through in-app purchases and purchase audiobooks directly from the app. However, Apple beat them to the punch by releasing their own version of compliance methods, essentially squashing many of Spotify’s proposed changes.
If a company chooses to comply with Apple’s methods, they are now required to pay a hefty “core technology fee” based on the number of downloads from all sources. This could potentially rack up a significant bill for companies like Spotify, with millions of downloads under their belt.
In a blog post, Spotify declared this ruling as a “powerful message”, sending a signal that not even “a monopoly like Apple” is capable of “abusing its power” to dictate how other companies interact with their customers.
In response, Apple announced plans to appeal the European Commission’s decision and fired back at Spotify, claiming that they have been “the biggest beneficiary” of the App Store. Apple further highlighted that Spotify currently dominates a majority of the market share in Europe’s music streaming market, while paying “Apple nothing for the services that have helped make them one of the most recognizable brands in the world.”
