Spotify users will get to choose whether to pay directly, or via Google Play

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in General Discussion
As part of its campaign against Apple's "unfair" App Store, Spotify has now teamed up with Google to offer "User Choice Billing," where Android users can decide which firm to pay their subscription to.




Spotify has long argued that it is "just unfair" how users of the streamer's iOS app have to pay via the App Store. Now it has announced a new partnership with Google, where Ausers have a choice of how to pay their Spotify subscription fee.

Android users who download the Spotify app from the Google Play Store will be asked to choose whether to use Google Play Billing, or via Spotify's own payment service.

"Spotify is on a years-long journey to ensure app developers have the freedom to innovate and compete on a level playing field," Alex Norstrom, Chief Freemium Business Officer, said in a statement. "We're excited to be partnering with Google to explore this approach to payment choice and opportunities for developers, users, and the entire internet ecosystem."

"We hope the work we'll do together blazes a path that will benefit the rest of the industry," he continued.

"Android has always been about openness and user choice," Sameer Samat, Vice President, Product Management at Google, said in the same announcement. "This step is an important milestone for mobile app stores and I can't imagine a better first partner than Spotify."

"This is an exciting first step," he continued, "and we look forward to adding new partners and learning how this model could be expanded across the platform."

It's not clear whether users will see any pricing difference between the two methods of payment. Neither Google nor Spotify have commented on whether this will alter the cut the Google Play Store gets from subscription sales.

However, Google's Sameer Samat said that Spotify understands, "the importance and continued investment in Android and Play to the health of the entire ecosystem." And Spotify has said that it will continue to offer "discounts and promotions."

User Choice Billing coming in 2022

The new "User Choice Billing" feature will be rolled out to users "over the coming months." Spotify says that it anticipates launching "the first iteration" later in 2022, and that ultimately it will be available to users in countries around the world.

Spotify is one of the founding members of the Coalition for App Fairness, although that organization was formed with funds from Epic Games.

Separately, Apple has previously told the US Senate Judiciary Committee that App Store criticisms such as Spotify's are based solely on "grievances related to business disputes."

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,111member
    Forgive my ignorance, but can’t subscribers pay via the Spotify web site and in doing so avoid that “just unfair” fee?
    foregoneconclusionsflagelwilliamlondonmontrosemacsbshank
  • Reply 2 of 14
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    It's not clear whether users will see any pricing difference between the two methods of payment. Neither Google nor Spotify have commented on whether this will alter the cut the Google Play Store gets from subscription sales.
    Without knowing that, it's hard to say whether it's actually changing anything, or just a PR stunt.
    aderutterbshank
  • Reply 3 of 14
    Sameer Samat’s statement indicates Spotify is still paying Google its commission. 

    So this is all about users choosing to give their personal data to Spotify as well as Google (who already has it). That’s what the Epic lawsuit was always about, though Epic’s demand is more complex because it involves irregular in-app purchases in the mobile gaming market.

    Another aspect of Samat’s statement is its reference to Spotify continuing to share its “discounts and promotions” with users who choose Google (only). That’s a shot across the bow, I think. [CORRECTION: I see that is Spotify saying that, not Google/Samat. So basically it’s Spotify saying they intend to act in good faith. We can assume Google has made it clear what will happen if they don’t.]
    edited March 2022 croprwilliamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 14
    LOL...only 1% of the iOS users of Spotify are paying through the App Store. That was already revealed long ago as part of the legal discovery process for their EU complaint. Spotify has always been lying about this issue. 
    sflagelmagman1979williamlondonaderutterbshank
  • Reply 5 of 14
    sflagelsflagel Posts: 803member
    I don’t get it. I have been paying Spotify for iOS directly for years. Is this just about a more streamlined process, I.e., a button on the App? 
  • Reply 6 of 14
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    I’d like to see the option of paying musicians directly or via Spotify. I mean, Spotify is just providing a software platform for data delivery, it’s not like they’re providing the music. 

    I’m sort of kidding, of course, but it’s funny to discount the value of a software platform when what you yourself are selling is software that runs within that software. And what cut of revenues does Spotify keep for itself? Roughly a third. Sound familiar?
    williamlondonaderutterbshank
  • Reply 7 of 14
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member

    So this is all about users choosing to give their personal data to Spotify as well as Google (who already has it). That’s what the Epic lawsuit was always about, though Epic’s demand is more complex because it involves irregular in-app purchases in the mobile gaming market.
    Ah yes.  Forgive me for being naïve and thinking that tech companies still have a business model based on building great products and selling them for a fair price (so the cut of sales matters).  Now it's all about how much data you can harvest and monetize.

    Makes me want to give up my career in technology and become a tradesperson so that I can focus on the function of what I create rather than how it can be used to obtain information about people.  Though I suppose the day might come where people can get free furniture if they're willing to tolerate having cameras and microphones embedded in it.
    magman1979
  • Reply 8 of 14
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    I’d like to see the option of paying musicians directly or via Spotify. I mean, Spotify is just providing a software platform for data delivery, it’s not like they’re providing the music.
    Exactly the reason why I don't use Spotify: the cut they pay musicians is pitiful and they've effectively created an online version of the "pay for play" model that commercial radio established decades ago.

    edited March 2022 magman1979tenthousandthingswilliamlondonbshank
  • Reply 9 of 14
    So, the market wants to revert back to the “AOL” method of billing, where you need to contact them directly to cancel and jump thru many hoops before it’s done. 

    Yeah I can see how customers want that choice. 
    bshank
  • Reply 10 of 14
    croprcropr Posts: 1,122member
    Sameer Samat’s statement indicates Spotify is still paying Google its commission. 

    Who knows?  Maybe Google is anticipating the EU Digital Market Act, where  gatekeepers (read Apple and Google) must allow app developer to use external payment system.

    I can imagine that Google and Spotify made an agreement as a publicity stunt.  E.g the commission is 2% if the payment happens via Spotify and 5% is the payment happens via Google. 

    So this is all about users choosing to give their personal data to Spotify as well as Google (who already has it). That’s what the Epic lawsuit was always about, though Epic’s demand is more complex because it involves irregular in-app purchases in the mobile gaming market.
    Here you have it completely wrong.  If you sign up with Spotify, Spotify collects your personal data (name, password, email, postal address, ...). Because Spotify runs on multiple platforms (iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Linux) with a single subscription per user or family, Spotify needs this information, so the user can reuse his subscription on different platforms.   In that respect, Spotify does not collect more information than Apple.

    On top of that Spotify, being a EU company, is bound to the GDPR laws, meaning it is not allowed to use your personal data for anything else then the music streaming service.

    The fact that on Android, Google takes care of the payment, does not change the picture.    The protocol between the Android Payment system (Google owned) and the app (Spotify owned) is very similar to the protocol used on iOS.  With the exception of a user identification, no personal data is transferred, so Google does not know what data Spotify has collected and the other way around.

    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondon
  • Reply 11 of 14
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    fred1 said:
    Forgive my ignorance, but can’t subscribers pay via the Spotify web site and in doing so avoid that “just unfair” fee?
    I’ve been a Spotify user since 2012, and that’s how I’ve always paid. Same with Netflix, Prime, and any other service I subscribed to back when I actually had sympathy for any of them. Back before they all became whiny hypocrites. Bottom line, if a company or dev can’t attract new users on their own, and they have to rely on the App Store or Play to do it for them, then the fee they have to pay for that privilege is both logical and fair. 
    williamlondonmontrosemacsfred1
  • Reply 12 of 14
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 1,999member
    I don’t think the word “innovate” means what Spotify, Epic, and every other whiner out there think it means.  

    I don’t think the word “compete” means what the they think it means either.  
    williamlondon
  • Reply 13 of 14
    cropr said:
    Sameer Samat’s statement indicates Spotify is still paying Google its commission. 

    Who knows?  Maybe Google is anticipating the EU Digital Market Act, where  gatekeepers (read Apple and Google) must allow app developer to use external payment system.

    I can imagine that Google and Spotify made an agreement as a publicity stunt.  E.g the commission is 2% if the payment happens via Spotify and 5% is the payment happens via Google. 

    So this is all about users choosing to give their personal data to Spotify as well as Google (who already has it). That’s what the Epic lawsuit was always about, though Epic’s demand is more complex because it involves irregular in-app purchases in the mobile gaming market.
    Here you have it completely wrong.  If you sign up with Spotify, Spotify collects your personal data (name, password, email, postal address, ...). Because Spotify runs on multiple platforms (iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Linux) with a single subscription per user or family, Spotify needs this information, so the user can reuse his subscription on different platforms.   In that respect, Spotify does not collect more information than Apple.

    On top of that Spotify, being a EU company, is bound to the GDPR laws, meaning it is not allowed to use your personal data for anything else then the music streaming service.

    The fact that on Android, Google takes care of the payment, does not change the picture.    The protocol between the Android Payment system (Google owned) and the app (Spotify owned) is very similar to the protocol used on iOS.  With the exception of a user identification, no personal data is transferred, so Google does not know what data Spotify has collected and the other way around. 
    Apologies, but I’m not sure how I have it wrong. There are users who pay for it through Google and as a result Spotify doesn’t have their info, right? Or is that incorrect? 

    Assuming I’m right, then this arrangement gives those users the choice to pay Spotify directly from the app, thereby giving the information to Spotify. Instead of the old way, which was to subscribe to Spotify outside of the app.
    williamlondonbshank
  • Reply 14 of 14
    So, the market wants to revert back to the “AOL” method of billing, where you need to contact them directly to cancel and jump thru many hoops before it’s done. 

    Yeah I can see how customers want that choice. 
    This is the number one reason I always go through the App Store when possible. Apple makes it ridiculously easy to cancel a subscription. My biggest fear with all this side loading talk is we’ll as customers will be the biggest losers with all our subscriptions spread all over the place with no easy way to cancel subs. 
    williamlondonmontrosemacs
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