The long-expected launch of Apple One subscription bundles is potentially great news for those immersed deep in the Apple ecosystem, but not everyone’s happy about it.
Spotify says the bundles, which will pair Apple Music with various other subscriptions services – including Apple TV Plus, Arcade, News Plus, Fitness Plus and iCloud storage – when they arrive this autumn is another example of Apple’s “anti-competitive behaviour.”
In a statement, Spotify once again restated its claim the company is abusing its dominant position in a manner that harms competitors and consumers. It called on regulators to step in and prevent Apple causing harm to others in the development community.
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“Once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favouring its own services,” the Spotify statement says.
“We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple’s anti-competitive behaviour, which if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect.”
The statement was followed-up by Spotify’s bean counter, CFO Paul Vogel, who told Deadline of the need for a “level playing field.”
He said: “For us it’s just about a level playing field and it’s treating all products and services equally and making sure that someone isn’t disadvantaged at the benefit of someone else — particularly if someone else owns a competing product.”
He added: “For us, particularly with Apple, it’s about being able to market and communicate with our users in a way that is is not restrictive. Right now there’s a lot of restrictions Apple places on how we can market and communicate with our users, so we feel that’s not right.”
Apple and Spotify have been trading blows over the in-app purchases system, which means Apple has to hand over 30% of its Premium subscription revenue to Apple, from some customers who use Apple’s billing methods.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
