Spotify pays less commission to Google due to special deal

Spotify and Google have an agreement that means the streaming service does not have to pay a commission to Google if users use the Spotify payment service to take out a subscription via the Android app. Google has similar agreements with other developers.

The agreement between Google and Spotify came to light during Epic Games’ lawsuit against Google. Until now, it was not known that Spotify would not have to pay anything. According to the editors of The Verge the Swedish streaming service also only has to pay a four percent commission to Google if Spotify users decide to use Google’s own payment system to take out a Spotify subscription within the Android app. According to The Verge, this is a lot less than the fifteen percent commission that Google usually asks from app developers when using the American search giant’s payment system.

Google Play Store customers can since 2022 make payments via a third-party payment system and not just with Google’s system, at least if the app developer supports this option. According to the editors of The Verge, developers in that case have to pay eleven percent instead of fifteen percent.

According to Google CEO Don Harrison, Spotify was so popular that a tailor-made deal was appropriate. The man also reportedly suggested that a number of other developers have a similar deal and that they also have to pay less commission to Google. It is not clear which app developers are involved, but during the same lawsuit it came to light that Google wanted to make a deal with Netflix in 2017. As a result, the streaming service would have to pay ten percent commission instead of fifteen percent. Netflix has that proposal Reportedly not accepted.