Apple Faces Lawsuit From Spotify Complaint Over Music Services

Apple might have an EU lawsuit coming down the pipeline related to music streaming, Reuters reports.

The suit stems from a claim by rival Spotify, which says Apple unfairly promoted its own music streaming service.

The European Commission might send out the statement of objections, which will outline suspected antitrust violations, before the summer, Reuters reports.

In response, Apple indicated its March 2019 blog, which said the App Store had helped Spotify benefit from hundreds of millions of downloads, leading it to become the largest streaming service in Europe.

In the complaint, Spotify takes issue with Apple’s restrictions on the rivals of its own music service, Apple Music. The complaint also went on to protest the 30 percent fee leveled against app developers on the platform, which has been a point of contention for the company in the past.

The Spotify case isn’t the only one Apple faces, as the Commission has also been looking into the App Store’s rules for competing apps, e-books and audiobooks and its mobile pay service Apple Pay.

Investigations into Apple aren’t a novelty at this point. The U.K. competition watchdog has opened an investigation into Apple as of Thursday (March 4), and the Dutch government is also looking into one.

The U.K. was looking into potential antitrust violations by Apple, with Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, saying in a press release that the allegations of Apple using its position to restrict competition or choice, which could make customers lose out on opportunities, warranted a look.

Because the App Store is the primary way for developers to distribute third-party apps, critics have said the tech giant’s terms and conditions are unfair. Apps need to be approved to join the Store and have to agree to the terms, including agreeing not to distribute their app anywhere else.