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Apple was fined €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) today for anti-competitive conduct against rival music streaming services in the European Union, and following the ruling, Spotify has praised the European Commission for your decision.
For context, the European Commission’s investigation into Apple’s practices began due to a complaint from Spotify in 2019 about App Store policies. Spotify has long criticized Apple’s 30 percent fee and complained that it is unfairly disadvantaged compared to Apple Music.
In a blog post, Spotify says the European Commission has sent a clear message that “Apple’s behavior of limiting communications to consumers is unlawful.”
Apple’s rules prevented Spotify and other music streaming services from sharing various benefits with our users directly in our app, denying us the ability to communicate with them about how to upgrade and the price of subscriptions, promotions, discounts and many other benefits. Of course, Apple Music, a competitor to these apps, is not prohibited from behaving in the same way. By requiring Apple to end its illegal conduct in the EU, the EC is putting consumers first. It’s a basic concept of free markets: Customers should know what options they have, and customers, not Apple, should decide what to buy, where, when and how.
It is worth noting that the scope of research in Europe has changed several times. While Spotify complained about Apple’s App Store fees and the requirement to use in-app purchases, the European Commission was unable to target Apple for those actions. Instead, the investigation ended up related to Apple’s anti-steering rules and the rule that prevents Spotify from informing customers about lower prices on the web within the Spotify app.
The European Commission decided that Apple’s restrictions preventing developers from informing iOS users about alternative, cheaper music subscription services available outside the app are “illegal under EU antitrust rules.” The EC claims that Apple made customers “pay significantly higher prices for streaming music subscriptions.”
Spotify on its blog further says that Apple has “routinely challenged laws and court decisions in other markets” and that it is awaiting next steps that will “clearly and conclusively address Apple’s long-standing unfair practices.” Spotify says it plans to keep putting pressure on Apple until it can ensure a “truly fair digital market everywhere.”
Apple has been ordered to “remove the anti-steering provisions” and avoid repeating the violation or adopting similar practices in the future. Apple plans to appeal the decision and has claimed that the EC’s opinion is wrong and has been heavily influenced by Spotify’s complaints.
Spotify may soon launch an app outside of the App Store with support for alternative app markets coming to the EU in iOS 17.4, but the music streaming company has complained that Apple’s plans do not comply with the DMA and that the changes that are coming Europe is a “complete and total farce.”