The Spotify vs Apple saga related to the latters App Store policies just heated up. Spotify earned a big win from the EU.
If you fire up the Spotify app on your iPhone and try to upgrade to a premium subscription, you’ll be stopped short. The app will simply say, “You can’t upgrade to Premium in the app. We know, it’s not ideal.” The reason this isn’t possible is that Spotify has one of two choices: present that alert or allow people to subscribe to Spotify within the app but forfeit 15% of their payments. Obviously, Spotify chose the first option. However, this conundrum is what lies at the heart of the Spotify vs Apple fight happening right now. See also: The best music streaming apps and music streaming services for Android Today, the European Commission issued a big win to Spotify (via Ars Technica). It has decided to charge Apple with violating antitrust laws in the EU, alleging that “it distorted competition in the music streaming market as it abused its dominant position for the distribution of music streaming apps through its App Store.” Apple must now formally respond. Unsurprisingly, the company disputes the charge and will likely issue a rebuttal and request an oral hearing. However, if the EC rules against Apple in the end, it could fine the company up to 10% of its global turnover — that could be tens of billions of dollars.
