14 DAY TRIAL // Spotify and Apple aren’t exactly the best buddies, but this time, the music streaming company is publicly accusing the iPhone maker of anti-competitive behavior that “hurts everyone.”
The issue stems from changes that Spotify is being required to make in its iPhone app in order to provide users with access to audiobooks.
“Spotify’s recent launch of Audiobooks in the U.S. is the perfect example of just how far Apple will go to disadvantage competitors. The Audiobooks purchase flow that Apple’s rules force us to provide consumers today is far too complicated and confusing — confusing because they change the rules arbitrarily, making them impossible to interpret,” Spotify explains.
“Bottom line, we’re forced to make users work even harder to listen to an audiobook. This harms not only consumers, but, this time, also authors and publishers who now find themselves under Apple’s thumb. We believe there is huge potential to grow the audiobooks market and get more authors heard by new listeners—but the purchase flow we’ve been forced into is artificially limiting that growth.”
Spotify goes on to emphasize that what Apple is trying to do is to actually “control the entire Internet ecosystem.” And this approach, Spotify says, hurts everyone in multiple ways.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says Apple has no intention to self-regulate, and this is the reason authorities need to take action against the company.
“Almost four years. That’s how long it’s been since Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, and we are still waiting on a decision. And while we wait, Apple continues to dictate what online innovation looks like, doing serious harm to the internet economy, choking competition and the imagination of app developers,” Ek said.
“In the absence of government intervention—in Europe, the U.S., or any other market around the world—Apple has shown time and again that it will not self-regulate and has no real incentive to change. With our Audiobooks launch, Apple has once again proven just how brazen it is willing to be with its App Store rules, constantly shifting the goalposts to disadvantage their competitors.”