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The EU's anti-stealing measures mean that Apple must now make developers tell users about prices available outside the EU. App storeand that's a good thing — but perhaps not the victory for democracy that Spotify is trying to claim.
Spotify has constantly complaining over what the company sees as Apple's failure to comply with EU rules on the App storeHowever, now the company is has announced that it will do what it couldn't do before, and that full pricing information will be displayed.
The company says it's doing this through what Apple calls a Music Streaming Services Entitlement. If a music streaming app developer apply If they use this and are approved, they can be linked to other ways of purchasing digital goods or services within the European Economic Area (EEA).
These rights for music streaming services exist due to European pressure, but Spotify has tried to join in April 2024Apple informed Spotify at the time that the company had not met the requirements for applying for the rights.
Four months later, Spotify has presumably heeded the call. But Spotify only says that “as of today, Spotify is opting for Apple's “entitlement for music streaming services.”
Assuming Apple has now approved the update, Spotify says that “iPhone users in the EU can now see pricing information for Spotify in the app and go directly to our website to purchase items.”
It’s certainly better for users to be informed about all the purchasing options. But Spotify won’t just win, it needs to keep complaining about what it insists are “illegal and predatory taxes” that Apple charges App Store developers.
Spotify has previously tried spinning the story so it appears that Apple has made it impossible to subscribe to the service from Spotify iOS app. The company even said that such subscriptions were “outside of our control,” when in reality it was just that it didn’t want to pay Apple’s 30% fee.
Apple has not commented on Spotify's participation in the Music Streaming Services Entitlement. However, the company has previously pushed back against Spotify's arguments, saying the company is a free ride in the App Store.
“We provide the platform for users to download and update their app,” Apple said in March 2019. “We share critical software development tools to support Spotify’s app building. And we’ve built a secure payments system — no small undertaking — so users can have confidence in in-app transactions.”
“Spotify wants to keep all of those benefits while retaining 100 percent of the revenue,” it concluded.