Did Spotify Just Score a Major Victory Against Apple in the EU ?

According to a new report, EU regulators are preparing to join Spotify in Apple's antitrust case. This is the last one. 

European regulators are preparing a ruling that would prevent Apple from "preventing music services from driving their users away from the App Store to alternative subscription options."

The move is aimed at managing Apple's countervailing behavior, which prevents developers from mentioning alternative payment methods in an app. 

In 2021, the EU made a preliminary finding that the App Store favored Apple Music over Spotify and other music streaming services. In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with EU regulators seeking relief from what it called anti-competitive conduct. "EU regulators are finalizing a ruling that would ban Apple's practice of preventing music services from pushing their users away from the App Store to alternative subscription options,".

"The decision will be made early next year."  If this particular rule focuses only  on Apple's anti-surveillance rules and only on music streaming services, the EU's broader digital marketing law could lead to more changes. It is also possible that Apple will have to be fined - up to 10 percent of the EU's annual turnover. However, these penalties rarely reach the maximum level. 

Currently, Spotify does not allow new subscriptions from the App Store at all. That could change if the decision is upheld and Spotify is allowed to direct consumers to its  payment partner. Spotify's complaint  four years ago said Apple was forced to raise subscription prices for iOS users before they were merged because of the 30 percent tax.  Although Spotify was the first to complain, any music service that exists as an app will benefit - at least in the EU. It's unclear if Apple plans to do anything to change how the App Store works in the US after this decision.

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