Spotify files EU antitrust complaint against Apple

In its complaint to the European Commission on Monday, Spotify claims that Apple’s control of its Appstore deprived customers from choosing rival providers of audio streaming services such as Spotify since the launch of Apple Music in 2015.

In its blogpost written by chief executive officer Daniel Ek, Spotify also claimed there is a 30% fee Apple charges content-based service providers to use Apple’s in-app purchase system (IAP).

Ek said Apple forced it to raise its monthly premium service to €12.99 up from €9.99 by pressuring it to use the IAP billing system in 2014 just as Apple Music launched its services for €9.99.

If Spotify doesn’t pay, Apple applies “a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions” that make Spotify an inferior experience. Ek also said that Apple “routinely blocks our experience-enhancing upgrades,” including locking Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services like Siri, Homepod, and Apple Watch.

Spotify stopped using the IAP system and allowed customers to upgrade via computer.

It also said Apple would not allow Spotify to add buttons or external links to pages with production information, promotions etc: “Promotions are essential to our business. This is how we convert our free customers to premium.”

Spotify also released a video detailing its claim and launched an entire website called Timetoplayfair.com, where there is a call for the same treatment other companies such as Uber and Deliveroo have on the App Store that are not subject to tax or have the same restrictions.