Spotify files complaint against Apple Music, citing ‘unfair advantages’

The struggle to be crowned king of streaming continues as Spotify and Apple Music duke it out March 13. The most recent development comes after Spotify founder Daniel Ek and his team filed a complaint against Apple alleging “unfair advantages” in regards to Apple’s App Store.  After “careful consideration” and what appears like previous efforts to resolve the battle with Apple, the Spotify team proceeded forward with the European Commission.

Spotify’s complaint centers around the issue of Apple’s App Store policies and logistics that would require Spotify to pay a supplementary taxation and subsequently inflate the membership price above that of Apple Music.

“Apple requires that Spotify and other electronic services pay a 30 percent tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, such as upgrading from our free to our premium service,” Ek said. “If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our premium membership well over the price of Apple Music. And to keep our price competitive for our customers, that isn’t something we could do. ”

The Spotify founder also pointed out discrepancies where apps like Uber weren’t influenced by Apple’s tax policies, noting that “app stores shouldn’t be allowed to control the communications between services and users, including placing unfair limitations on advertisements and promotions that benefit users. ”

Ek made it clear that this isn’t a “Spotify-versus-Apple issue,” but rather an issue about “competition on the merits. ”

H/T: Complex

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