Apple, unsurprisingly, wasn’t happy about the European Commission (EC) slapping it with a 1.8 billion euro fine (about $2.6 billion CAD). Also unsurprisingly, music streamer Spotify is pretty happy about the result, with the company praising the move in a blog post.
The EC issued the fine as a result of an investigation into Apple’s practices after a 2019 complaint from Spotify over the company’s App Store policies. Apple plans to appeal the fine and claims the commission is misguided and heavily influenced by Spotify’s complaints.
In its blog post, Spotify writes:
“Apple’s rules muzzled Spotify and other music streaming services from sharing with our users directly in our app about various benefits—denying us the ability to communicate with them about how to upgrade and the price of subscriptions, promotions, discounts, or numerous other perks. Of course, Apple Music, a competitor to these apps, is not barred from the same behaviour. By requiring Apple to stop its illegal conduct in the EU, the EC is putting consumers first. It is a basic concept of free markets—customers should know what options they have, and customers, not Apple, should decide what to buy, and where, when and how.”
Spotify also took the opportunity to fire a few more shots across Apple’s bow, writing that the company “routinely defied laws and court decisions in other markets” and saying it’s looking forward to the next steps.
The music streaming company wrapped up its blog post by saying that the EC’s ruling “does not solve Apple’s bad behaviour towards developers beyond music streaming in other markets around the world” and that it will keep working to secure “a truly fair digital marketplace everywhere.”
As highlighted by MacRumors, the scope of the EC’s investigation changed several times. Spotify’s initial complaint was about Apple’s App Store fees and the requirement to use in-ap purchases. However, the EC couldn’t pursue Apple over those actions. The investigation shifted to Apple’s rules preventing Spotify and other apps from telling customers about lower prices offered elsewhere, such as on Spotify’s website.
It’s also worth noting that, thanks to other regulations in Europe, Spotify will soon have the ability to launch an app outside of the App Store. However, Spotify and others have complained that Apple’s response to the Digital Markets Act rules don’t actually comply with the act.
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