Sam Oliver
The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly expanded its inquiry into Apple's policy of forcing companies to turn over 30 percent of subscription revenue earned through the App Store, issuing subpoenas to streaming services that compete with Apple Music.
There is no word on exactly what information the commission is seeking with the subpoenas, which were reported by The Verge, or which services have received them. It's likely that the list includes one or more of Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody, and Tidal, the most prominent competition for Apple Music.
The commission began looking into the App Store's revenue sharing policy earlier this month, after competitors groused that Apple Music launched with a built-in pricing advantage.
Because Apple keeps a 30 percent cut of all in-app purchases — Â including subscription revenue — Â services like Spotify are forced to raise their prices in the App Store to compensate, or face lost revenue from iOS users. The companies are also prohibited by App Store rules from directing consumers to sign up through other avenues that would avoid the 30-percent haircut, a likely secondary point of contention for the FTC.
"They [Apple] control iOS to give themselves a price advantage," one music industry insider told The Verge earlier this year. "Thirty percent doesn't go to any artist, it doesn't go to us, it goes to Apple."
Andrew Orr
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65 Comments
Forcing my ass. This is the AppStore policy. [QUOTE]"They [Apple] control iOS to give themselves a price advantage," one music industry insider told The Verge earlier this year. "Thirty percent doesn't go to any artist, it doesn't go to us, it goes to Apple."[/QUOTE] Yeah! How dare they invent an operating system and control it.
I wonder how much the FTC charges to start an investigation. Ten million? Twenty?
They just need to disable in app purchased and let customers get there subscription on there website. That being said, I still wish the FTC force Apple to take a very small cut when an app is selling copyright content like movies, music, books, ...
This is so bunk and a waste of my taxes. The competitors can charge the same rate as Apple. They choose not to.
So the competitors are whining that they have to give a percentage of their earnings for an app that gives those whiners access to millions of potential (and paying) customers all the while Apple maintains that ecosystem and all the overhead costs that goes with it for free? As if all that infrastructure magically pays-for and maintains itself?
Stupid people. Nothing is stopping them from going to a competitor like Android - oh wait.. Fandroids expect everything to be free.
Apple can have a monopoly on its own product. Have a nice day crybabies.