"You discovered a premium feature! You must have a Premium subscription to unlock it.”
According to the reports of Recode, Spotify is pissed off with Apple as they are not allowing them to pop up the above message in front of users of its ad-supported service.
Apple has told Spotify that the message violates its App Store rules. It is allegedly refusing to approve Spotify’s latest app update unless Spotify uses Apple’s billing system.
Recode obtained a letter in which Spotify’s head lawyer says that Apple is “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers” by rejecting the company’s latest app update. Apple’s app review team apparently says that Spotify should use Apple’s billing system if it “wants to use the app to acquire new customers and sell subscriptions.”
The letter continued, “This latest episode raises serious concerns under both U.S. and EU competition law. It continues a troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music, particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple’s previous anti competitive conduct aimed at Spotify … we cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors.”
Spotify did support App Store billing for a period of time, but after the launch of Apple Music in June last year, things have changed.
Spotify’s in-app subscription price on Apple devices stands at $12.99 – three dollars higher than its standard $9.99 per month Premium charge. The company has disabled the App Store billion option in its app, instead prompting users to sign up through the Spotify website.
According to the reports of Recode, Spotify is pissed off with Apple as they are not allowing them to pop up the above message in front of users of its ad-supported service.
Apple has told Spotify that the message violates its App Store rules. It is allegedly refusing to approve Spotify’s latest app update unless Spotify uses Apple’s billing system.
Recode obtained a letter in which Spotify’s head lawyer says that Apple is “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers” by rejecting the company’s latest app update. Apple’s app review team apparently says that Spotify should use Apple’s billing system if it “wants to use the app to acquire new customers and sell subscriptions.”
The letter continued, “This latest episode raises serious concerns under both U.S. and EU competition law. It continues a troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music, particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple’s previous anti competitive conduct aimed at Spotify … we cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors.”
Spotify did support App Store billing for a period of time, but after the launch of Apple Music in June last year, things have changed.
Spotify’s in-app subscription price on Apple devices stands at $12.99 – three dollars higher than its standard $9.99 per month Premium charge. The company has disabled the App Store billion option in its app, instead prompting users to sign up through the Spotify website.