Spotify Declares War on Apple
This week, Apple and Spotify are going head to head over music streaming and profits after Spotify’s general counsel, Horacio Gutierrez, sent Apple a letter claiming Apple blocked the music-streaming company’s recent attempts to update its iOS app, “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers,” Recode reports.
It’s a move designed to call attention to Spotify, but its complaint is one with broad ramifications. The crux of the issue is Apple’s billing system. If Spotify wants “to use the app to acquire new customers and sell subscriptions,” the company has to use Apple’s system at Apple’s price: an additional 30 percent fee for using the company’s billing system. (This is why a Spotify subscription purchased through the Apple store costs $13, rather than the usual $10. Those $3 cover Apple’s fees.)
Source: NY Mag