Spotify asked for more information about Apple in antitrust investigation

Posted:
in General Discussion edited October 2019
The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has asked Spotify to provide information on Apple's alleged anti-competitive behavior, and specifically how it pertains to Spotify's business.

Image Credit: Spotify
Image Credit: Spotify


In March, Spotify had filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the European Union. Spotify's representatives have now met with the Justice Department officials, as well as members of the FTC's Technology Task Force.

Spotify has alleged that Apple "gives themselves unfair advantages at every turn," according to Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify.

Spotify argues that Apple's 30 percent cut of all purchases made on the App Store -- including recurring Spotify Premium memberships -- make it hard for competitors to keep prices low.

Additionally, they argue that Siri has limited functionality with third party apps and prefers Apple's own apps. This means that if a user were to request Siri to play a song, it would search for music in Apple Music, rather than Spotify. However, Apple had announced an update in June that would allow Siri to better control third party apps.

Spotify also alleges that Apple had told Spotify to stop sending emails to users who had signed up for a free version of Spotify to upgrade to a paid version. This would presumably bypass the in-app subscription processing fee that Apple would make.

Apple alleges that only half of a percent of Spotify's 108 million premium users are subject to a 15% fee. This works out to roughly 680,000 customers that Spotify acquired between 2004 and 2015 when Spotify used Apple's payment systems, according to Reuters.

Spotify is not the only company that has been tapped for details on a major tech firm. Alongside Apple, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are looking into Alphabet's Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    What a sham. The Spotify app has been downloaded 300 million times, which represents a lot of paid and potential paid accounts.
    They should learn more about competing than complaining. Without iOS and the App Store, they would be substantially less.


    bshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 6
    So, providing a marketplace and utilizing the technology, payment systems, etc have no value and Apple should just provide this for free? Wow, Spotify has a skewed sense of how business works in North America.

    If you take your product direct to consumer you can eliminate costs and provide your product or service for less to your customer. Introduce a middle man/ reseller you incur greater cost yet gain access to that reseller's customer network. Rather than complain they should dust off an economics textbook.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 6
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,628member
    If Congress wants to they WILL find an angle to attack Apple with. Considering an election coming up I bet they find one. 
  • Reply 4 of 6
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,843member
    gatorguy said:
    If Congress wants to they WILL find an angle to attack Apple with. Considering an election coming up I bet they find one. 
    Going after Google and FaceBook seems more popular.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 6
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,628member
    MacPro said:
    gatorguy said:
    If Congress wants to they WILL find an angle to attack Apple with. Considering an election coming up I bet they find one. 
    Going after Google and FaceBook seems more popular.
    Yup. Going after Google is always more popular. FUD works when the target sucks at self-promotion and controlling the message. 
    Facebook is another matter entirely. They seem to have sooo much shady stuff going on in a attempt to be seen as comparable to Apple and Google and taking the shortest routes to get there. 
    edited October 2019
Sign In or Register to comment.