Faced with the media blow and the legal action taken by Epic Games against Apple, Spotify took the opportunity to join the ranks of the major player in the video game industry. The music streaming service released a statement applauding the Fortnite publisher’s decision.
We applaud Epic Games’ decision to take a stand against Apple and shed light on Apple’s abuse of dominance” wrote Spotify, before adding that “IApple’s unfair practices have disadvantaged competitors and deprived consumers for far too long..
arm wrestling
Spotify refers to the Fortnite case. On August 13, the video game with hundreds of millions of users set up a means of payment bypassing the 30% commission charged by Apple. Like Google, the Apple-branded app store collects a portion of each app’s revenue.
As a result, Apple banned the video game from its platform, and Epic Games automatically filed a lawsuit. A campaign denouncing the monopoly was published in the aftermath, and the whole Fortnite affair is detailed here.
This real arm of doing could lead to big consequences. Currently, Apple and Google are recouping billions of dollars through their policy. A modification of the latter would have serious economic consequences.
Spotify’s criticisms of Apple
No wonder Spotify has joined the fight. The service has regularly posted its dissatisfaction with Apple’s policy. About the App Store, the 30% commission adds to another frustration. Apple does not allow Spotify to add a redirect link to its site for its users to subscribe. In the feature part of the app displayed on the app store, the benefits of Spotify Premium are just noted, without any redirect link.
“The stakes for consumers and app developers, large and small, could not be higher and ensuring that the iOS platform operates competitively and fairly is an urgent task with far-reaching implications” added Spotify in its press release.
Spotify vs. Apple Music
Spotify is one of the first to be affected by Apple’s policy as the two companies compete in the field of music streaming. It is on this subject that Spotify had complained to the European Commission.
In March 2019, Spotify raised its voice and filed a complaint against the Cupertino company. “These In recent years, Apple has introduced rules to the App Store that deliberately limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of user experience, essentially acting as both player and arbiter to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the issues directly with Apple, we are now calling on the EC to take action to ensure fair competition.”
The climate had slightly improved in April this year. On his Apple Watch, Siri finally offered to control Spotify. An update that might seem innocuous, but which showed how Apple favored its Apple Music application over its ecosystem, including its connected watch and certainly the most controlled and closed of products.