European consumer lobbying group backs EU's Apple Music antitrust case

The European Commission is to allow a consumer group to contribute to its continuing antitrust investigation into Apple Music.

The European Commission has given Apple three months to respond to its finding that the company is in breach of EU competition law with Apple Music. In the meantime, the commission has now formally recognized the Bureau Europeen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC), a consumer lobbying group, as an interested party.

"We look forward to working with the Commission to ensure that Europe's consumers have access to a full range of music streaming services without their choices being unfairly restricted or prices being artificially inflated," said Monique Goyens, Director General of the BEUC, in a statement.

The BEUC represents 46 independent consumer organizations from 32 countries. It says its main role is to represent these organizations to the EU "and defend the interests of European consumers."

Being formally recognized as an interested third party means that the BEUC will be able to contribute consumer feedback to the investigation.

Analysts have claimed that the EU's "bark is a lot worse than the bite," in that there are unlikely to be large-scale repercussions for Apple and Apple Music.

However, although the EU is waiting for Apple's response to its preliminary report, those findings do say that Apple has infringed Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. That specifically prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position.

Apple has not responded to the EU's recognition of the BEUC, but does disagree with the commission's findings.

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5 Comments

j2fusion

said about 2 years ago

I think there are a lot of opportunists working here. As others save said only a small percentage of people sign up through Apple. Sometimes I feel Apple has a group of sharks circling around them growing considerably recently.

bshank

said about 2 years ago

If it wasn’t for Apple, Ek and Spotify would have taken over the world by now! :D

sdw2001

said about 2 years ago

I understand we are dealing with complex legal matters here, but the layman in me really has to laugh. Apple literally created the legal digital music market, just as it essentially created the modern smartphone (touchscreen) and tablet markets. Apple faces serious competition in all of those markets, yet they are accused of being an illegal "monopoly." And as for consumers? Consumers now have an unbelievable amount of quality, low-cost media, from music to movies to apps from which to choose. Apple essentially saved the music industry, which prior to the iTunes store launch, was hemorrhaging money from lost CD sales/file sharing. It started the app economy as well. But this is what happens...Apple is Goliath now, and the Davids are going to be shooting arrows from every direction.

FileMakerFeller

said about 2 years ago

I also wonder at the definition of "prices being artificially inflated." We know that Apple pays artists more than any other streaming service; we also know that the vast majority of artists struggle to get enough money from their craft to earn a living. So perhaps it is the case that all these other services are artificially lowering the price to consumers.

If you can't bring a product to market at a price that appeals to consumers, yet your competitors can, maybe you should be looking in the mirror for the source of your problems. And if you've tried everything you can think of, and then tried some more and still can't find the answer, then giving up is a viable course of action. If you've managed to build up a substantial subscriber base you can sell your business to someone who knows how to make money from it.