Spotify said that Apple is making it more difficult to sell audiobooks, and this is a product Spotify just launched last month. The company called Apple’s approach “anti-competitive” and called it “choking competition” in a blog post ahead of the company’s earnings report on Tuesday.
Spotify said Apple’s rules made the process of buying audiobooks on Spotify “overcomplicated and confusing” and that Apple “arbitrarily changed its rules to make them inexplicable.” Apple charges up to 30 percent commission on in-app purchases on the App Store and prohibits certain developers from using or directing users to external payment services.
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Moreover, Spotify said Apple rejected its proposed audiobook purchase process three times because it violated App Store policies. To comply with Apple’s rules, Spotify hid the prices of its audiobooks and didn’t let users buy content in the app. Instead, users need to select the book they want to buy, and Spotify emails the user a link to view it online.
This makes it more difficult to compare prices, which users can only find out via email. Spotify said the process “has not only hurt consumers but this time also authors and publishers, who now find themselves suppressed by Apple.”
This isn’t the first time Spotify has challenged Apple. In 2019, the music streaming company filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in Europe, alleging the company hurt consumer choice by imposing a 30% “Apple tax.”
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a statement today: “Without government intervention – in Europe, the US or any other market in the world – Apple has repeatedly shown that it will not self-regulate and There’s no real incentive to change.
With the launch of our audiobooks, Apple has once again demonstrated how reckless it is with its App Store rules, constantly shifting ‘goalposts’ to disadvantage its competitors.”
Furthermore, Spotify could make it easier to buy audiobooks by using Apple’s in-app purchase system, which would subject each purchase to the up to 30% commission Apple charges, which would also make it easier to buy audiobooks. It’s harder for Spotify to compete with Apple Books.
