‘EU starts investigation into Apple after Spotify complaint’

The European Commission has launched an investigation into Apple over Spotify’s complaint, three sources told the Financial Times. Digital services must relinquish 30 percent on purchases from customers in the App Store, other services are not.

The European Commission first made inquiries with customers and competitors in the market. After that, the Commission decided to start an official investigation, the Financial Times reports. The newspaper relies on three sources involved in the investigation, but the Commission has not yet confirmed the information. Apple and Spotify declined to comment for the story.

The complaint revolves around the payment of 30 percent of the turnover if customers take out a subscription with Spotify via the iOS app. Suppliers of physical products such as Uber and Deliveroo do not have to pay that percentage. Spotify also finds it strange that Apple is not only a referee in the App Store, but also plays along with music streaming service Apple Music.

Spotify wants apps to be able to use their own payment systems for payment and that Apple is no longer an obstacle in communication between apps and customers of the services they offer. The iPhone maker responded to the complaint with the comment that Apple has built a platform, set of development tools and a payment environment for app makers, which Spotify also uses. Now Spotify wants to take advantage of all those benefits, without paying for it, Apple argues. Spotify no longer offers subscriptions via the iOS app. Customers can do this via the browser, but App Store rules prohibit Spotify from pointing this out to potential customers.

The investigation could theoretically lead to a fine of up to 10 percent of a company’s annual turnover. Such an investigation can take a long time and the result can therefore easily take one to several years.