Spotify have hit out at Apple‘s new plan for higher transaction fees, calling them “outrageous”.
Under the new plans, Apple will charge up to 27 per cent commission on app developers selling products away from the Apple Store.
In response, Spotify have accused the company of “stopping at nothing” to protect profits, and urged the UK government to prevent a similar situation in the UK.
The fees were introduced after a legal battle with Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite. It allows people to subscribe to services while bypassing Apple’s system, but charges them up to a 27 per cent commission. Currently, using the Apple system costs the biggest developers 30 per cent, though 85 per cent of developers paying nothing.
Spotify said of the ruling: “Once again, Apple has demonstrated that they will stop at nothing to protect the profits they exact on the backs of developers and consumers under their app store monopoly,” claiming that it “flies in the face” of creating greater competition in the market.
Headphones and Spotify logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on December 5, 2023. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Of the potential of a similar system in the UK, Spotify added: “The UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill must put an end to this false posturing, which is essentially a recreation of Apple’s fees.
“We strongly urge UK lawmakers to pass the bill swiftly to prevent Apple from implementing similar fees, which will help create a more competitive and innovative tech industry for UK consumers and businesses.”
Spotify recently revealed a policy change of their own, which would require all songs on the platform to have a minimum of 1,000 streams before they can earn any royalties.
Recently, the European Union called for changes to the streaming business, asking for higher royalty payments for artists as well as “correctly allocating metadata” to make artists’ works more visible.
The streaming platform previously laid off six per cent of its staff earlier this year in January, saying at the time it was doing so to promote “speed,” with 1,500 jobs (17 per cent of the workforce) going last month.
Chief executive Daniel Ek has said he made the “difficult” decision as economic growth has “slowed dramatically”. At the time, Spotify employed around 9,000 people.
“I recognise this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions,” Ek wrote. “To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.” He also added that the cuts would be “incredibly painful for our team”.
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