Apple Responds After Spotify Criticises Apple One

Spotify has reacted angrily to the news that Apple is launching a bundled subscription service (Apple One) that includes cloud storage (iCloud), Apple TV+ and Apple Music etc in a single package.

Spotify has an ongoing antitrust complaint against the two trillion dollar company, and it once again accused Apple of “using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favouring its own services.”

Apple of course is already facing an EU antitrust investigation over Apple Pay and Apple App Store, but it responded to Spotify’s accusation and insisted it was offering value to its customers.

Spotify allegations

It should be remembered that the bad blood between the two started in March 2019, when Spotify filed an official complaint and accused Apple of unfairly using the dominance of its App Store to give the Apple Music service a competitive advantage.

The Spotify complaint centred on Apple’s policy of charging digital content providers a 30 percent fee for using its payment system for subscriptions sold in the App Store.

Apple strongly defended itself against Spotify’s complaints, and slammed the firm for using its App Store to dramatically grow its business, and then allegedly seeking to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem (including hefty revenues), without making any contributions to that marketplace.

But now with the news of the launch of Apple One, Spotify once again took aim at the iPad maker.

“Once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favoring its own services,” Spotify told Cheddar journalist J.D. Durkin.

“We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple’s anti-competitive behaviour, which if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect,” Spotify reportedly said.

Spotify’s call for governments to “act urgently” comes as Apple is engaged in legal action with Epic Games over similar issues – namely the commission charges of Apple’s App Store.

Apple response

But Apple has responded to Spotify’s allegation and insisted that Apple One was a good option for customers.

“Customers can discover and enjoy alternatives to every one of Apple’s services,” Apple told Reuters reporter Stephen Nellis. “We’re introducing Apple One because it is a great value for customers and a simple way to access the full range of Apple’s subscription services.”

“We’ll be recommending the Apple One plan that saves you the most money based on the subscriptions you already have,” Apple added. It’s perfect for anyone who loves any of our services and wants to get more for less, and it’s especially great for families. Also select services included in Apple One are available to enjoy on non-Apple devices, and you can cancel anytime.”

Apple’s new bundled subscription service is called ‘Apple One’, and it offers customers a bundled package that includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud, with prices starting at $14.95 per month.