EU to Investigate Apple Following Spotify Complaint [Report]

The EU will launch a formal antitrust investigation into Apple following a complaint from Spotify, reports the Financial Times.

After considering the complaint and surveying customers, rivals and others in the market, the EU competition commission has decided to launch a formal antitrust investigation into Apple’s conduct, according to three people familiar with the probe.

Spotify filed its complaint in March alleging unfair business practices that disadvantage the company as it competes with Apple Music. Founder and CEO Daniel Ek said that paying Apple a 30% cut would raise the cost of its subscriptions to above Apple Music and not paying Apple results in a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions.


Other groups have "similar concerns" but are "too afraid to take on Apple", according to Thomas Vinje, a lawyer who worked on Spotify's complaint.

Apple denied the allegations saying "After using the App Store for years to dramatically grow their business, Spotify seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem — including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store’s customers — without making any contributions to that marketplace."

We'll let you know if the European Commission officially announces an investigation. You can follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.

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