jonl

so it's a wash whether a user goes through Apple or signs up with the actual provider of the service?

Transaction fees, regulations updates,  equipment infrastructure, support staff, training of support staff, buildings to house the support staff, staff to clean the buildings that house the support staff, accountants, auditors, developers, security experts… Now all of this has to cover operations across the globe that takes into account different regulations across the globe. 

Now outside of this, there are other costs of running the app store that go beyond credit card processing, and these have to be paid for too. And what's worse is that these costs increase the more countries Apple supports and the more customers they get. There are lots of apps that get hosted for free on the app store too, which somewhere down the line, will incur a cost.

Do I think the billing departments of Spotify, Netflix etc. have a 30% overhead? No, because they don't have as many customers as Apple, do not operate in as many countries in Apple and do not shift as much data as Apple.

And in many cases, their fee processing is handled by Apple.

facilitate charging for subscriptions. Their app should be able to send people to their web site to sign up just like when trying to use the app on a TV, BD player, etc.

The problem is, many users aren't aware of the rules. As I wrote earlier, Spotify has put out a sort of PSA, and I hope it educated a lot of people who Apple might otherwise have tricked into paying an exorbitant recurring tax to Apple. In fact, it did educate CNBC anchor Brian Sullivan, who stated at 2:44 EDT today that "he was one of the idiots who subscribed to Spotify through iTunes, and he's got to go back and fix that." Good for him!

The clapping seals supporting Apple in these threads are certainly concentrated here but few in number in the real world. Real people who hear about this are outraged and feel like idiots for paying Apple 30% more for nothing. They feel like Apple tricked them. Like Brian Sullivan, they're going to fix the problem.

Spotify raised the price in the App Store versus what they charge on their own website.

Brian might feel like an idiot... but that was a decision made by Spotify.  I'm sure he's not the only person who didn't know about the two different prices.  But shame on Spotify for even putting their customers into this situation.

Netflix, on the other hand, charges the same in the App Store as they do on their website.  They just eat that cost. I haven't heard Netflix complain about it in countless articles... so perhaps they realize this is the cost of doing business.

don't need Apple to facilitate subscription payments. Apple should make it easy for customers to pay what the services actually cost, by making it easy to sign up with the actual providers of the services. This should be the default, because an iOS device is no different than a TV, BD player, or other device on which the apps are installed. These other manufacturers don't have the gall to try to charge a ridiculous tax.

Now, for customers who actually want to manage their subscriptions through Apple, a small fee would be appropriate. I'd put it somewhere between Apply Pay levels and 1% at the very most for companies that have their own payment processing. Something higher would be appropriate for a developer who doesn't want to process his own payments.

It is easy to sign up with Netflix, Spotify, whatever outside of their iOS app.  Apple's argument is that if a customer discovers that app and service through the App Store then Apple has helped facilitate that sale, and they get a cut.  What Apple doesn't allow, is a company to put a product on it's shelves with a label telling the customer to buy the product somewhere else, "Don't but it here, buy it direct from us."  No store in the world allows that.

can successfully argue that Spotify has paying customers in large part because of access to the iOS install base. Is that something Apple should get a fee for (outside of cc processing) for the life that someone is a Spotify customer? Or should it be a one time fee they get for every new customer?

For an ongoing subscription (one year +), 15% sounds about right, 30% sounds high. A one time fee of $1.50 (at the new upcoming 15% rate) is rather low when a long time customer might be spending hundreds of dollars. And at the same time, if a customer should establish an account directly with Spotifys site, and just use the app downloaded at the AppStore to log in to that account, Apple would get bupkis.

taking 30% of someone's monthly Spotify fee. They're not hosting any content. And it certainly doesn't cost them $3 to process the credit card transaction. Google allows alternate payment methods. Apple should do the same. How hard would it be for Spotify to have a link in the app that takes you out to Safari to sign up? It wouldn't be. This is all about $$$ for Apple.