Spotify legal chief calls Apple a 'ruthless bully' that stifles competition
Amid the ongoing Epic Games v. Apple trial, Spotify Chief Legal Officer Horacio Gutierrez called Apple a "ruthless bully that uses its dominance to hobble competitors."
Credit: Spotify
In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, Gutierrez said that "Apple's ability to strangle its competitors is unprecedented," and used the trial with Epic Games as evidence that "Spotify is no longer alone" in its criticism of the Cupertino tech giant.
Gutierrez also reiterated some of Spotify's main talking points against Apple, including criticism of the company's 30% cut of in-app purchases and subscriptions and anti-steering provisions that prohibit developers from advertising non-App Store subscriptions.
"Apple will tell you that this is overwrought, that Spotify is seeking special treatment," Gutierrez wrote, adding later that Spotify is only looking for "fair treatment."
The Spotify legal chief also highlighted some of Apple's current antitrust problems in the U.S. and Europe. In April, the European Commission ruled that Apple was in violation of antitrust law with Apple Music. The U.S. Senate and House are also mulling regulatory changes that could affect Apple's policies.
Gutierrez, for his part, urged U.S. lawmakers to take action with "urgent, narrowly tailored updates" to competition law in the country.
Spotify in 2019 filed a legal complaint against Apple with the European Commission alleging that the company was using its market to stifle competition.
Credit: Spotify
In an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, Gutierrez said that "Apple's ability to strangle its competitors is unprecedented," and used the trial with Epic Games as evidence that "Spotify is no longer alone" in its criticism of the Cupertino tech giant.
Gutierrez also reiterated some of Spotify's main talking points against Apple, including criticism of the company's 30% cut of in-app purchases and subscriptions and anti-steering provisions that prohibit developers from advertising non-App Store subscriptions.
"Apple will tell you that this is overwrought, that Spotify is seeking special treatment," Gutierrez wrote, adding later that Spotify is only looking for "fair treatment."
The Spotify legal chief also highlighted some of Apple's current antitrust problems in the U.S. and Europe. In April, the European Commission ruled that Apple was in violation of antitrust law with Apple Music. The U.S. Senate and House are also mulling regulatory changes that could affect Apple's policies.
Gutierrez, for his part, urged U.S. lawmakers to take action with "urgent, narrowly tailored updates" to competition law in the country.
Spotify in 2019 filed a legal complaint against Apple with the European Commission alleging that the company was using its market to stifle competition.
Comments
Same business ethics as Tim Sweeney with Epic.
Can't wait to hear the Apple cross on that one. Should be full of lols.
IOW, Epic and Spotify and the others are mad that their business models don't really work if they have to pay something OUT, while Apple builds models that work SO well the money just comes pouring in.
Apple faired a little better and weren't pushing for a decrease.
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1. 30%: Not a single Spotify subscriber pays 30%.
2. "Fair treatment", when specifically asking for special treatment, while also stealing the 15% discount from their users by not passing on the after 1 year subscription discount.
3. Citing Epic games which sued Apple and Google, after breaking both stores TOS with a change that was hidden from reviewers. Epic knew this change would be rejected and had prepared lawsuits and a massive marketing campaign.
4. Circular references to anti-trust complaints that aren't final, and many merely the direct process to Spotify's own complaints.
The investigations will decide if the compaints themselves have any grounds or not.
The EU already appears to have found that Apple is in fact breaching competition rules.
The size of Spotify played no role in that decision.
The other investigations will run their course and we'll see what happens.
It is the practices that are being investigated and those practices aren't limited to Apple.
Lots of companies get investigated.
As for the outcome, patience young grasshopper.