La FTC (Federal Trade Commission) are researching Apple's subscription service rules for the App Store, if they are anti-competitive and illegal under United States law. The main issue of contention, is that the standard music streaming price of 9.99€ per month, not achievable for Apple Music competitors, because Apple keeps the 30% of all income made within applications.
This means that music streaming apps or assume major cuts in your benefits to stay at the € 9.99 mark, or they have to charge more in the App Store to take into account the 30% margin that we talked about before. Well, consumers don't want to pay 12.99 € dollars (approximately € 9.99, with a 30% increase) per month for a music streaming service, when it can easily be purchased from Apple Music for € 9.99 per month.
Spotify made this same complaint in May, where he criticized that 30% as an "Apple tax to keep competitors blocked." East impuesto It essentially gives Apple Music an unfair advantage over the competition.
According to Reuters, the FTC is investigating the complaint but a formal process is yet to be opened. It is noted that such a formal investigation would never happen if they did not find sufficient grounds for Apple's misconduct. Before Apple Music was released, there were rumors that the Justice Department was investigating the behavior anticompetitive in connection with Apple streaming music offerings.