Pending the Digital Market Act, Spotify writes to Margrethe Vestager to take action against Apple

Listen to the audio version of the article

Music streaming service Spotify, along with other media companies such as Deezer, have urged the European Commission to take action against Apple for anti-competitive and unfair practices. The letter to European Union antitrust regulator Margrethe Vestager’s executive vice president accuses the Cupertino-based company of hampering competition by charging excessive fees and making spurious rule changes along the way. So nothing new under the sun. Spotify is not new to this type of initiative. It has previously filed antitrust lawsuits against Apple in various countries, alleging that the 30% charge Apple requires developers to pay on its App Store has forced Spotify to “artificially inflate” its prices.
“We are writing to ask for swift and decisive action by the European Commission against anti-competitive and unfair practices by certain global digital gatekeepers, and Apple in particular,” the letter reads.

What happened in the past.

At the beginning of 2019, the Swedish company had filed a complaint deeming the 30% commission that Apple withholds for every purchase in the app or in the App Store illegal, a commission that clearly does not apply to its direct competitor streaming service, Apple Music . After an initial investigation, the EU published a preliminary document in which it agreed with Spotify, stating among other things that the way in which Apple manages the App Store violates the principles of competition. To better understand the context of this challenge, however, it is necessary to understand how the Digital Markets Act will be implemented. The provision, which came into force in October 2022, has among its obligations that of guaranteeing that app stores other than those pre-installed. Translated, it means that Spotify could bypass the Apple app store and open its own store or join that of a competitor. The EU measure will enter into force in 2024, evidently the Swedes have no intention of waiting until then.