Tag: Time to Play Fair

Apple’s Anti-Competitive Behavior Hurts Everyone—Including Audiobook Listeners, Publishers, and Authors

October 25, 2022

We believe consumers win when competition is not only promised, but guaranteed. Consumers and creators benefit when they can more easily connect and enjoy the latest and greatest innovations without hurdles. Apple continues to stand in the way of Spotify’s and other developers’ abilities to provide a seamless user experience, and its restrictions hurt both creators and consumers alike. 

Spotify’s recent launch of Audiobooks in the U.S. is the perfect example of just how far Apple will go to disadvantage competitors. The Audiobooks purchase flow that Apple’s rules force us to provide consumers today is far too complicated and confusing — confusing because they change the rules arbitrarily, making them impossible to interpret. Bottom line, we’re forced to make users work even harder to listen to an audiobook. This harms not only consumers, but, this time, also authors and publishers who now find themselves under Apple’s thumb. We believe there is huge potential to grow the audiobooks market and get more authors heard by new listeners—but the purchase flow we’ve been forced into is artificially limiting that growth. 

And while the challenges we’re facing with Audiobooks are serious, this is just one example across multiple years that shows how Apple is trying to control the entire internet ecosystem. Here’s what our CEO, Daniel Ek, had to say: 

“Almost four years. That’s how long it’s been since Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, and we are still waiting on a decision. And while we wait, Apple continues to dictate what online innovation looks like, doing serious harm to the internet economy, choking competition and the imagination of app developers. In the absence of government intervention—in Europe, the U.S., or any other market around the world—Apple has shown time and again that it will not self-regulate and has no real incentive to change. With our Audiobooks launch, Apple has once again proven just how brazen it is willing to be with its App Store rules, constantly shifting the goalposts to disadvantage their competitors.” 

Importantly, this issue has implications that are far reaching and go well beyond Spotify, as outlined in a recent New York Times article. It’s about the companies just getting off the ground, the ones fighting for a shot, the ones that are still an idea in some young person’s mind. And because Apple continues to give itself unfair advantages at every turn, key decision makers have no choice but to act swiftly and boldly to end their anti-competitive behavior.

Learn more on Time to Play Fair, our site about fair competition in the world of audio streaming.

It’s Time To Act. The Internet Economy Depends on It

September 16, 2022

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Speaking at an event in Brussels

In March 2019, Spotify took the bold step of filing a complaint against Apple with the European Commission for anti-competitive behavior and abuse of dominance in the music streaming market. For years, Apple has consistently tilted the playing field in favor of its own services to disadvantage rivals, stifle innovation, and make it harder for companies like Spotify to compete. 

But it’s not just Spotify who’s impacted.

Nearly every consumer now owns a smartphone and uses it as their primary means of accessing services on the internet, which means everyone is impacted, putting the internet economy at risk. 

Fast-forward to today, and the European Commission, while having built its own strong case against Apple over the last few years, still hasn’t brought the case to conclusion. This is especially problematic as we’ve seen Apple seek to circumvent or outright defy regulations in other markets around the world in order to evade meaningful changes to their behavior.  

This is why Spotify CEO Daniel Ek—joined by Global Head of Public Affairs Dustee Jenkins, General Counsel Eve Konstan, and others from our team—traveled to Brussels, the seat of the Commission, for a full day of meetings and events earlier this month. This included time with key Commissioners to ask that they deliver a robust decision against Apple as soon as possible, because the internet moves fast, and every day that passes without any action erodes companies’ ability to innovate on behalf of consumers—not just in Europe, but around the world. Remedies must be levied to drive impact. Otherwise, Apple will have no real incentive to change. 

But the Apple case wasn’t the only issue on our agenda. We shared our thoughts around the remarkable work the Commission has done to advance Europe’s digital economy, and the leadership role it has taken with the recent landmark tech regulations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA). While we applaud these efforts, we don’t see the DMA specifically as a substitute to the case we filed in 2019. Instead, we view it as a much-needed complement and believe that a decision on our case is still key to ensuring significant and lasting change. 

We also spent time with students at Vlerick Business School, where Daniel discussed leadership, the importance of healthy debate, the challenges of continuous innovation, and Spotify’s relentless focus on speed and building culture and resiliency. He also talked about his desire to unleash Europe’s entrepreneurial potential and the role of business in driving meaningful solutions to some of society’s biggest issues. And realizing this is only possible when there is a level playing field. 

The day concluded with a Spotify-hosted reception that featured a fireside chat with Daniel moderated by renowned Brussels-based commentator Shada Islam and a musical performance by award-winning Belgian singer-songwriter and RADAR artist Meskerem Mees. During the conversation, Daniel reaffirmed just how critical it is to keep fair competition at the top of the Commission’s agenda, given the billions of developers and consumers who are at the mercy of gatekeeper platforms like Apple. 

Fair and open platforms enable better consumer experiences and allow developers to innovate, grow, and thrive. Spotify believes we have a duty to ensure that we’re helping to pave pathways to success for start-ups out there just looking for a shot. So we’ll continue to engage on these topics and advocate for an ecosystem in which fair competition is not only encouraged, but guaranteed. 

To learn more, please visit TimeToPlayFair.com

Consumers and Innovators Win on a Level Playing Field

March 13, 2019

My goal for Spotify is and has always been to reimagine the audio experience by giving consumers the best creativity and innovation we have to offer. For that to be a reality, it is my firm belief that companies like ours must operate in an ecosystem in which fair competition is not only encouraged, but guaranteed.

It’s why, after careful consideration, Spotify has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission (EC), the regulatory body responsible for keeping competition fair and nondiscriminatory. In recent years, Apple has introduced rules to the App Store that purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience—essentially acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the issues directly with Apple, we’re now requesting that the EC take action to ensure fair competition.

Apple operates a platform that, for over a billion people around the world, is the gateway to the internet. Apple is both the owner of the iOS platform and the App Store—and a competitor to services like Spotify. In theory, this is fine. But in Apple’s case, they continue to give themselves an unfair advantage at every turn.

To illustrate what I mean, let me share a few examples. Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrading from our Free to our Premium service. If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our Premium membership well above the price of Apple Music. And to keep our price competitive for our customers, that isn’t something we can do.

As an alternative, if we choose not to use Apple’s payment system, forgoing the charge, Apple then applies a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions on Spotify. For example, they limit our communication with our customers—including our outreach beyond the app. In some cases, we aren’t even allowed to send emails to our customers who use Apple. Apple also routinely blocks our experience-enhancing upgrades. Over time, this has included locking Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod, and Apple Watch.

We aren’t seeking special treatment. We simply want the same treatment as numerous other apps on the App Store, like Uber or Deliveroo, who aren’t subject to the Apple tax and therefore don’t have the same restrictions. What we are asking for is the following:

  • First, apps should be able to compete fairly on the merits, and not based on who owns the App Store. We should all be subject to the same fair set of rules and restrictions—including Apple Music.
  • Second, consumers should have a real choice of payment systems, and not be “locked in” or forced to use systems with discriminatory tariffs such as Apple’s.
  • Finally, app stores should not be allowed to control the communications between services and users, including placing unfair restrictions on marketing and promotions that benefit consumers.

As I recently shared, competition pushes us to evolve and improve both the customer and creator experience. It’s not something we ever have—or will—shy away from. So, let me be clear that this is not a Spotify-versus-Apple issue. We want the same fair rules for companies young and old, large and small. It is about supporting and nurturing the healthy ecosystem that made our two companies successful in the first place.

Consumers win and our industry thrives when we’re able to challenge each other on fair footing. That’s what competition on the merits is all about.

To learn more please visit TimeToPlayFair.com