Spotify criticizes Apple's 'App Store monopoly' after policy update

Yesterday, a court denied appeals from both Apple and Epic Games in their case over the former’s App Store practices. This meant that Apple would be forced to allow external links for payments within applications, and it didn’t take long for Apple to adjust its policy accordingly. The newest App Store policy update entitles Apple to a 27 percent cut of payments made through external in-app links. The move drew criticism from multiple parties, including Spotify.

Following the publishing of our coverage of the court ruling in the Apple vs Epic Games trial yesterday, a Spotify spokesperson reached out to provide the following statement on the behalf of the company:

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. Their latest move in the U.S. — imposing a 27% fee for transactions made outside of an app on a developer’s website — is outrageous and flies in the face of the court's efforts to enable greater competition and user choice. This action follows similar moves by Apple to circumvent compliance in South Korea and The Netherlands. However, the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) will finally put an end to this false posturing, which is essentially a recreation of Apple's fees. We strongly urge the European Commission to act swiftly and decisively to prevent Apple from implementing similar fees, which are prohibited under the DMA.

Per Apple’s updated App Store policy, the company takes a 12 percent cut from companies that are part of its Small Business Program.

The statement from Spotify echoes a sentiment shared among multiple app developers following yesterday’s news. As we await to see what comes next over on the App Store, stay right here on Shacknews.