Apple criticises Spotify as potential €500m EU fine looms

The tech giant says that regulatory complaints against it by Swedish-based Spotify, which dominates the music streaming business, are motivated by greed

Adrian Weckler

Apple has fired back against Spotify’s regulatory complaints ahead of a rumoured European Commission fine that could amount to €500m against the US tech giant.

In a statement, Apple said that Spotify was already freeloading within the App Store and wanted to solidify its own dominant position in the online music streaming market.

“Fundamentally, their complaint is about trying to get limitless access to all of Apple’s tools without paying anything for the value Apple provides,” an Apple spokesperson said.

“Spotify pays Apple nothing for the services that have helped them build, update, and share their app with Apple users in 160 countries spanning the globe.”

Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the European Commission is poised to fine Apple €500m for restricting developers such as Spotify from telling users about cheaper deals outside the App Store.

Apple has strongly disputed the claim that its restrictions amount to such an information ban.

The Californian firm, which employs 6,000 people in Ireland from its Cork-based European headquarters, pointed out that Spotify dominates the European music streaming market with more subscribers — 56pc — than all other competitors combined. Apple is in third place at 11pc, behind Amazon Music Unlimited (20pc) and just ahead of YouTube Music (8pc).

Apple also argues that there’s little evidence of substantial consumer harm, with the online music streaming market in the EU going from 25m users to 160m users in the last eight years, or 27pc per year.

But Spotify, which has been formally complaining about Apple to the European Commission since 2019, appears to have won the hearts and minds of Brussels’ regulatory thinkers.

Last year, the Commission indicated that it would be taking action against Apple over what it described as “unfair trading conditions” related to the App Store.

Apple believes that any fine, if it follows precedent, should be closer to tens of millions rather than €500m. However, the size of Apple’s revenue and profitability — its most recent quarterly report showed a profit of €31bn, or more than €2bn per week — could be a factor in a larger fine from the European body.

Last month, Apple outlined some of the changes it was making in Europe to comply with the Digital Markets Act. These include a new EU-only version of its iPhone software which will allow separate, non-Apple app store “marketplaces” on iPhones for the first time as well separate payment systems to Apple Pay.

The move, which will kick in with iOS 17.4, is the biggest-ever shakeup of the iPhone and App Store in Europe.