Spotify just announced about a day ago that it’s filing an antitrust complaint against Apple, and the tech giant is having none of it. Just like how Spotify posted on its newsroom revealing how unjust Apple has been, Apple decided to release a post on its newsroom addressing Spotify’s claim.
The company felt the need to respond to Spotify’s claims when it came to their realisation that the music streaming service provided misleading information that doesn’t accurately describe Apple and its goal, which could tarnish the company’s reputation.
“Spotify seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem — including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store’s customers — without making any contributions to that marketplace. At the same time, they distribute the music you love while making ever-smaller contributions to the artists, musicians and songwriters who create it — even going so far as to take these creators to court,” said Apple in its press release.
According to CEO of Spotify Daniel Ek, Apple has prevented the company from providing experience-enhancing upgrades and ensured that competitors of Apple are unable to access their services like Siri, HomePod and Apple Watch. Apple in return refuted the claim by revealing that they’ve approached Spotify to introduce Siri and AirPlay 2 support in its app, and the tech giant has also approved Spotify’s Apple Watch app last year with the similar speed and process that other apps have received.
The Cupertino company also stated that it is unfair for Spotify to demand the benefits of a free app while it’s not an entirely free service since it does have Premium membership should users choose to upgrade. What Spotify currently demands is to have no charges from Apple at all since it’s free to download, but Apple’s rule clearly state that tax will be required for in-app purchases that goes through the company’s payment system. In addition, Apple exposed that Spotify only stated the 30% tax they have to pay, while failing to state that it only applies to the first year of an annual subscription, while the following years will only require a 15% tax.
Apple continues to justify themselves, unveiling the fact that a huge portion of Spotify’s customers come from mobile carriers partnerships instead of Apple’s payment system, and yet Spotify refuses to agree to Apple’s tax when they’re paying distribution fees to retailers and carriers.
“Spotify wouldn’t be the business they are today without the App Store ecosystem, but now they’re leveraging their scale to avoid contributing to maintaining that ecosystem for the next generation of app entrepreneurs. We think that’s wrong.”
Now that Apple is out with its side of the truth, at least we have a better understanding on the ongoing situation. Which side are you on? Is Spotify right to file its complaint, or is the music streaming service being unreasonable?