A few weeks ago, for several days We attended a soap opera that pitted Spotify and Apple against each other. The first stated that its streaming music service had an advantage since you don't have to pay 30% of every subscription generated through the app something to which all developers are obliged, although after a year this is reduced to 15%.
Apple accused Spotify of not wanting to pay a single euro for its service and the swedish firm accused him of monopoly. The waters subsequently calmed down but is now the European Union who has wanted to get involved in this matter, as expected. Perhaps Apple should not have responded to that provocation because it is the only one of the two parties that had something to lose.
As we can read in the Financial Times, The European Union is preparing to launch an official investigation into Apple's alleged anti-competitive behavior with its streaming music service. According to this medium, the commission has taken into account the presentation of Spotify's request and the opinion of customers to begin an investigation that could last several years.
In your claim, Spotify ensures that receives unfair treatment from Tim Cook's company, since it rejected an application for the Apple Watch on multiple occasions in both 2015 and 2016. Another point that will be investigated is the 30% commission that Apple keeps from each subscription, a percentage that, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is reduced to 15% when the client has been paying for more than a year.
Apple applies this commission to all applications that offer digital servicesNetflix being another of those affected and that does not allow contracting the service from its own application. This tax or commission, to call it somehow, corresponds to the hosting fees, the development and maintenance of the platform, the developer resources, the payment infrastructure and other payments.
Spotify, like Netflix, they do not allow hiring their services directly from the application to avoid paying 30%. Apple does not allow them to add a link to its website so that potential customers can sign up for the service, it can only invite them to do so if they want to enjoy the service.
Spotify has absolutely nothing to lose from this research. Apple cannot remove its application from the App Store as the European competition court would throw itself at it. We will have to wait to see how the matter ends.
With how simple it would be for Apple and Spotify they will reach a private agreement so that if it is not 30% or 15%, it is a figure that pleases both parties and thus everyone wins. I'm sure Tim Cook's company has similar deals with other big ones.
