By now you’ll hopefully have seen our alert this morning about Apple’s response to Spotify’s anti-trust complaint about its App Store policies. But Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also talked about the complaint yesterday, in an appearance at the International Conference on Competition in Berlin.
Among his claims: that Apple’s cut of in-app subscriptions could force Spotify to raise its prices. “You can see us having no other choice than to accept the 30 per cent fee put in place, which essentially would mean we would have to raise our prices for consumers all over the world,” Ek told the Financial Times in an interview at the event. “Apple [would get] an unfair benefit of being able to compete at much lower prices. I obviously think our service is superior to theirs, but a 30 per cent price difference is a lot.”
Spotify *did* raise its prices, to $12.99 a month, when it was using Apple’s in-app purchases system. However, Spotify has since ditched IAP as a payment mechanism: the anti-trust complaint is as much about Apple’s rules on whether Spotify can encourage its iOS users to subscribe directly with the streaming service.
Meanwhile, in his Berlin speech, Ek used a table-tennis metaphor to describe the Apple battle. “It’s like inviting you to a match on our ping-pong table and then forcing you to play blindfolded while we change the rules throughout the game,” he said. “We are confident the Commission will carefully examine the facts we have presented and do what’s in the best interest of consumers.”
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