Image credit: Spotify

Spotify and Apple’s competition goes beyond their competing music services in the latest criticism from Spotify.

Spotify‘s Dustee Jenkins goes in on Apple in a new blog post, criticising what she calls “Apple’s monopolistic roots”. Spotify’s Chief Public Affairs Officer states how she feels that not enough is being done about Apple’s approach to services offered through apps in the Apple App Store.

For those who don’t know, we’ll get you up to speed. Any apps that offer paid subscriptions from within their apps must process those payments through Apple, when they’ve been downloaded from the Apple App Store. Apple takes a 30% cut from those payments.

Five years ago, Spotify’s app update was denied by Apple with requirements that Jenkins says limited their “ability to conduct business” in the Apple App Store. It came only a couple of years after Apple had launched their very own competing music streaming platform, Apple Music.

Now, all these years later, Spotify are still speaking out against – what they deem to be – an unfair practice. Jenkins states that the “30% tax” on apps available through the Apple App Store means “many developers’ dreams die”.

She writes:

Apple denies consumers’ ability to choose for themselves, forcing them to pay more for apps, limiting their user experience and preventing them from hearing about cheaper options. 

It’s even more frustrating when you realize the actual reason Apple is doing this: to protect their own bottom line. As their product sales continue to slow, their services business becomes even more critical to their financial performance. So to defend their multi-trillion dollar monopoly, they are pouring even more resources into maintaining their stranglehold over the App Store. 

We feel this acutely at Spotify. As a company that always focuses on building a simple, intuitive and seamless experience for users, Apple’s artificial constraints are stifling and we know our users deserve better. 

Spotify aren’t alone in their belief that Apple’s 30% cut is anti-competitive. After encouragement from Spotify and other music streaming services, the European Commission investigated Apple and eventually charged Apple for breaching EU competition law.

You can read Dustee Jenkins’ full blog article here.

What do you think: Are Apple’s App Store charges unfair or are they simply managing the apps that use their platform and devices to reach consumers? Leave us a comment below.