William Gallagher
A consortium led by Spotify has written to the European Union claims that Apple is defying courts and regulators, so it wants "urgent action" from courts and regulators.
Spotify previously got the EU to investigate allegations against Apple of antitrust behavior in 2019. Apple originally fought back, accusing Spotify of wanting all the benefits of being a free app, without being a free app.
Then in 2020, Spotify said it expected Apple would open up its platforms as a result of its complaint to the EU. In 2021, the EU issued a preliminary report that Apple was in breach of European Union competition law.
Now Spotify has posted an open letter to the EU's antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, demanding in part that the Union should act on that preliminary report, and also "swiftly enforce" the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
"Apple has and continues to defy every effort from courts and regulators to address these unfair practices," says the letter. "While Apple continues to reap unfair rewards, the harm to developers and, more importantly, to consumers is immeasurable."
"The time has come for urgent action from the EU to end Apple's abusive behaviours," it continues. "The EU has the opportunity to take the lead, but it must act fast as every day that passes is a loss for innovation and for the welfare of European consumers."
The letter is signed by executives from eight companies:
- Spotify
- Basecamp
- Deezer
- Proton
- Schibsted
- European Publishers Council
- France Digitale
- News Media Europe
Spotify's letter also calls for a "rapid decision in the competition case against" Apple Music "for its illegal, anti competitive behaviour."
"Many of the anti-competitive behaviours described in the Commission's Statement of Objections against Apple are felt not only by music streaming services but by countless other app providers who wish to offer goods and services via the iOS App Store," continues the letter. "That Statement of Objections is nearly two years old and the abuses and consumer harm will continue until a remedy is enforced."
"Any attempts by Apple and other gatekeepers to circumvent the rules — including on misleading and vague grounds of privacy and security — should be resisted.," it concludes.
Previous independent research says that in 2021, Spotify had 31% share of the global music streaming market. Apple Music was the second most popular on 15%. The company also continues to wrongly claim that all of its subscribers are hit with a 30% subscription fee, where the actual number is 15% for subscribers that have been with the service for over a year.
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Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
16 Comments
I’m old enough to remember when Spotify was an exciting new company using a tech startup approach to make music personal with the best recommendation engine on the market. Now look at them. It’s sad to see how fast a company can lose its way.
Here we go again. The point of market competition and consumer choice is at the device level. People can choose between different phones and platforms. Those who choose the iPhone are choosing the reliability and security that comes with the iOS platform. That stability and security in the iOS platform exists in no small part because of its level of control over apps that can get on the device.
I also find it interesting that the biggest complainers about the App Store duopoly are other businesses and not consumers themselves.
Apple should sell a version of iPhone with no OS or other software installed, for a much higher price than the current offerings. Almost nobody would buy it, but it would add some clarity to the discussion, in terms of how their business model works. If you sign up for the free iOS with free updates, and a device that’s partially subsidized by App Store earnings, you get all of the benefits of the ecosystem but agree to Apple’s rules about what can be run within their free software platform. It’s not like I can sell any song I want on Spotify and set my own terms for how much of a cut Spotify gets.