Apple faces new challenges in Europe over Spotify complaints

The European Union will bring new charges against Apple in an investigation that began in 2019 following a complaint Spotify. In accordance with Reutersthey will be announced in the coming weeks and will highlight increased regulatory scrutiny of the Cupertino company.

The aforementioned report does not mention the new accusations that Europe will bring against members of the bloc. It only indicates that they will be included in the “additional objection statement” that is used when new evidence comes out or some items are changed to support the case.

It will add more pages to the already extensive (and controversial) relationship between Apple and the music and podcast streaming platform. Recall that the first disputes between them date back to mid-2016, when Spotify accused the Californians of preferring Apple Music, forcing their competitors to use the App Store subscription system.

The relationship between the two companies led the Swedes to file a formal complaint with the European Commission in 2019. This led to an investigation that in 2021 charged with abuse of power by Tim Cook’s company. At the moment, neither Apple nor European regulators have made public statements regarding the apparent new allegations, which will become known in the coming weeks.

Dispute between Apple and Spotify will add a new chapter

Spotify’s criticism of Apple for committing to a subscription system in the App Store is clearly not new. However, the pressure on the American company is growing for you to start relaxing your online store policy. For example, Apple recently received its tenth fine in the Netherlands for banning dating apps from using third-party payment methods.

And let’s not forget that the Digital Markets Act aims to end the modality that companies like Apple have taken with its platforms and services. In line with European law, major app stores will no longer be able to remove apps that claim to implement alternative payment gateways.

This will affect not only the aforementioned conflict between Apple and Spotify, but also the famous case of Epic Games and fortnite. However, there is still plenty of time before the rules go into effect; some analysts believe that only from 2023 some changes associated with it may begin to appear.

More pressure on those from Cupertino

South Korea and Japan are other countries that have taken steps to prevent Apple, like Google, from restricting developers. In fact, at the end of March it became known that those from Cupertino were already allowing some applications (such as Netflix or Spotify itself). link to external sites to enable users to register and manage their accounts.

The measure was announced last year, but by then Spotify wasn’t entirely satisfied with the scale. “This is a step in the right direction, but it does not solve the problem. Developers want clear and fair rules that apply to all applications. Our goal is to restore competition once and for all, not some arbitrary, self-serving move. We will continue to push for a real solution,” said Daniel Ek, CEO of the streaming service.

And to all this it must be added that Google decided to allow alternative payment methods in the Play Storestarting with Spotify. Will this decision affect the new accusations that the EU will bring against Apple? We will have more details in the coming weeks.