The European Commission today imposed a fine of 1.8 billion euros on Apple due to its anti-competitive behavior against competing music streaming services. In a response published on its website, Apple vehemently criticized the Commission’s decision, as well as Spotify’s conduct, according to macrumors.
The fine results from a prolonged investigation by the European Union, initiated by a complaint from Spotify regarding Apple’s treatment of third-party music streaming services on its App Store. The Commission now states that Apple has misused its dominant market position by preventing music streaming apps from informing users about cheaper subscription prices available outside the app.
The Committee found that Apple imposed restrictions on app developers, preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside the app, termed “anti-steering provisions,” which is illegal under EU anti-trust regulations.
In a broad public response, Apple pointed out that despite Spotify having a dominant market share of 56% in Europe’s music streaming market and “a significant part of its success is due to the App Store,” the company pays nothing to Apple because it chooses not to sell subscriptions through its app.
Apple listed numerous services provided to Spotify for free, such as distribution, APIs, frameworks, TestFlight, app review, and personal engineering assistance, and stated, “But free isn’t enough for Spotify. They also want to rewrite the rules of the App Store – in a way that benefits them more.”
Instead, Spotify wants to bend the rules in its favor by including subscription prices in its app without using Apple’s in-app purchase system. “They want to use Apple’s tools and technology, distribute on the App Store, benefit from the trust we’ve built with users – and pay nothing to Apple for it.”
Apple stated that when Spotify began collaborating with the European Commission on the investigation in 2015, it claimed that “the digital music market was stalling, and Apple was hindering competitors.” Apple added, “Unfortunately for their case, Spotify continued to grow.”
Apple argues that three different cases related to it brought by the European Commission over the past eight years have found no evidence of consumer harm or anti-competitive behavior.
“The reality is European consumers have more choices than ever before, and ironically, in the name of competition, today’s decision only serves to entrench the dominant position of a successful European company that is considered a runaway leader in the digital music market.”
Apple also stated it is ready to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) within days and believes today’s fine is “an attempt by the Commission to enforce the Digital Markets Act (DMA) directly before it becomes law,” as it “does not rely on current competition law.”
