Spotify has criticised Apple’s decision to charge app developers a 27% commission to sell their apps outside of its App Store.
Apple introduced the commission this week after a legal battle in the US courts with Fortnite creator Epic Games.
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The gaming company removed its apps from both the App Store and Google’s equivalent Play Store after complaining that both companies had harmed the online app ecosystem.
In response, Spotify has described the commission as an “outrageous” attempt to protect its profits.
“Once again, Apple has demonstrated that they will stop at nothing to protect the profits they exact on the backs of developers and consumers under their app store monopoly,” Spotify commented in its statement.
Spotify has also urged the UK Government to crack down on Apple’s practices.
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By GlobalData“The UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill must put an end to this false posturing, which is essentially a recreation of Apple’s fees,” it stated. “We strongly urge UK lawmakers to pass the bill swiftly to prevent Apple from implementing similar fees, which will help create a more competitive and innovative tech industry for UK consumers and businesses.”
This is not the first time that Spotify has criticised Apple’s behaviour.
Spotify, alongside seven other companies including Deezer, signed an open letter in January 2023 to the EU’s Executive VP Margrethe Vestager calling for Apple’s business practices to be held accountable.
The letter alleged that Apple’s unfair business practices over its App Store have negatively affected the signee companies’ growth.
The letter can be found in full here.
A court document filed on Tuesday (16 January) by Apple stated that it is seeking $73m from Epic Games to cover legal expenses and claiming that Epic Games has broken its DPLA (Developer Program License Agreement).
