8 months ago
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Spotify said today that it has submitted a new version App Store that shows pricing and feature information about the audio company’s different plans in the EU. The update, which is pending approval from Apple, also includes a link for users to buy subscription plans from Spotify’s website.
Earlier this week, the European Commission fined Apple a massive €1.84 billion ($ 2 billion) for the company’s anti-competitive practices in the music streaming market. In a press conference, EU’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, said Apple has to stop its anti-steering practices.
“From now on, Apple will have to allow music streaming developers to communicate freely with their own users — be that within the app, by email, or any other ways of communicating,” she said.
What Spotify’s App would look like if Apple approves its changes Image Credits: Spotify
Buoyed by this decision, Spotify has submitted this new version with information about subscriptions, offers, and a link to buy those, as per The Verge. The audio company doesn’t currently show prices of different plans on the app with messages like “You can’t upgrade to Premium in the app. We know, it’s not ideal.”
In January, Spotify teased a bunch of changes with regard to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) including the ability to subscribe through in-app purchases and buy individual audiobooks directly from the app. However, Apple released its compliance method days later and squashed the possibility of a lot of these changes.
If a company accepts Apple’s changes, they have to pay a new “core technology fee” related to several downloads from all sources. Which could rake up the bill for companies like Spotify with millions of downloads.
On its blog, Spotify called this a “powerful message” that sends a signal that even “a monopoly like Apple” is not able to “wield power abusively” to control how other companies interact with their customers.
In response, Apple said it plans to appeal EC’s decision and said that Spotify has been “the biggest beneficiary” of the App Store. Apple noted that Spotify enjoys a majority of its market share in Europe in the music streaming market while paying “Apple nothing for the services that have helped make them one of the most recognizable brands in the world.”
