EU Investigates Apple Over Spotify Competition Claims

The European Union may believe that Spotify's complaint against Apple has some merit. Financial Times sources claim that EU competition commissioners have decided to launch an antitrust investigation into allegations that Apple unfairly hinders Spotify and other rivals to Apple Music through App Store policies. The investigation will begin within "the next few weeks," according to the starting point.

Spotify vs Apple

Both tech companies declined to comment on the report. However, Apple has already rejected Spotify's claims. It argued that Spotify was really driven by "financial motivations" and wanted to benefit from the App Store infrastructure without contributing to it. The company also rejected the view that it favors Apple Music at the software level, claiming it is talking to Spotify about AirPlay and Siri integration.

Spotify vs Apple

Developers in the App Store not only have to provide a 30 percent drop in subscription revenue in the first year (15 percent in the second), but they cannot redirect customers to an external website to subscribe there. This makes providers either charge extra fees for App Store-based subscriptions (as Spotify does now), or take a large portion of their costs.

There is no certainty that the investigation will lead to what Spotify wants. However, the company's victory would have a significant impact on Apple. It may be necessary to reduce or eliminate the subscription restriction or ensure that its devices can work with third-party media services as closely as with its own Apple services. Although potentially liberating for users, it could affect Apple's increasingly important service revenue and force it to use money from its expanding music, news, and video offerings.