Spotify Turns the Anti-Apple Volume Up to 11
Complaints about the iPhone maker taking a 30 percent cut of App Store subscriptions have merit. But it’s hard to feel too sorry for Spotify.
Gimme some money.
Photographer: NBC/NBCUniversalBrussels looks like the next battlefield for music streaming. Spotify Technology SA wants the European Union to probe Apple Inc. over the 30 percent cut of paid subscriptions that it takes from App Store vendors. (The levy falls to 15 percent after a year).
While Europe’s top antitrust official Margrethe Vestager says it’s too early to say if a probe will happen, it would make sense. Spotify isn’t the only third-party app to have a beef with the skewed economics of the iPhone, and Apple hasn’t done a good job defending its practices. The Swedish music streaming company’s case is strengthened by Apple being one of its biggest competitors.