Spotify announced today that it has submitted a new version of the App Store that shows prices and information about the audio company’s different plans in the EU. The update, which is pending approval from Apple, also includes a link for users to purchase programs subscription from the Spotify website.
Earlier this week, the European Commission fined Apple a whopping 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for the company’s anti-competitive practices in the music streaming market. At a press conference, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said Apple must stop anti-steering practices.
“From now on, Apple should allow music streaming developers to communicate freely with their own users — whether in-app, via email or any other means of communication,” he said.
What the Spotify app would look like if Apple approves its changes Image Credits: Spotify
Encouraged by this decision, Spotify has submitted this new version with information about subscriptions, offers and a link to purchase them, according to The lip. The audio company currently doesn’t show prices of different plans in the app with messages like “You can’t upgrade to Premium in the app. We know, it’s not ideal.”
In January, Spotify introduced a number of Digital Marketing Act (DMA) changes, including the ability to subscribe via in-app purchases and purchase individual audiobooks directly from the app. However, Apple released its compliance method a few days later and dispelled the possibility of many of these changes.
If a company accepts Apple’s changes, it will have to pay a new “core technology fee” associated with multiple downloads from all sources. Which could raise the bill for companies like Spotify with millions of downloads.
On its blog, Spotify called this a “powerful message” that sends a message that even “a monopoly like Apple” isn’t able to “abusively exercise power” to control how other companies interact with their customers.
In response, Apple said it plans to do so appeal against EC decision and said Spotify was “the biggest beneficiary” of the App Store. Apple noted that Spotify enjoys most of its market share in Europe in the music streaming market, while paying Apple nothing for the services that have helped it become one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
