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US: Apple responds to Spotify’s claims of antitrust violations

By  |  July 3, 2016

Tech giant Apple has issued a heated three-page response to a letter from streaming music company Spotify which had accused Apple of putting in place App Store policies that are ‘anticompetitive.’

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    Spotify had sent the ‘anticompetitive’ accusation letter to Apple earlier last week, after Apple blocked an update to Spotify’s iOS app, allegedly to thwart any potential competition to its Apple Music service.

    The letter said Apple’s rejection of the revised app raised “serious concerns” under competition law in the United States and Europe and the move was causing “grave harm to Spotify and its customers”.

    In Apple’s response to Spotify’s ‘anticompetitive’ accusations and to “set the record straight,” Apple’s legal head Bruce Sewell has said, in a letter addressed to Spotify lawyer Horacio Gutierrez, that Apple is disappointed with the public attacks, and is also concerned that exemptions are being sought by Spotify to the App Store rules which are applicable to all app developers.

    Detailing the app update issue had been cited by a problem in Spotify’s letter, Sewell accused Spotify of “resorting to rumors and half-truths” about the Apple App Store service.

    In addition, Sewell’s letter to Spotify drew attention to the fact that Apple has recently announced policy changes to the revenue split model for App Store developers. The policy changes shift the App Store revenue split model 70/30 to 85/15 in favor of the developers, if the subscription for an app is maintained by customers for one full year.

    Spotify has not yet responded to Apple’s retort.

    Full Content: Financial Times

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