The European Commission on Monday slammed Apple with a huge $1.95 billion fine for anti-competitive conduct in the music streaming market. In response to the decision, Apple fired back at the EU and Spotify, saying the move “just cements the dominant position of a successful European company that is the digital music market’s runaway leader.”
Apple will appeal.
The company also says it intends to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) within days.
Apple sees it one way
Apple made some telling points in its rebuke, pointing out:
Spotify dominates the European streaming music market with 56% share. The app has been downloaded more than 119 billion times on Apple devices.
Spotify met with EC officers over 65 times during the investigation.
There are currently almost 160 million streaming music subscribers.
The streaming service doesn’t pay Apple a commission because it doesn’t sell subscriptions in app.
Europe sees it another way
About the fine, Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president in charge of competition policy, said: “For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store. They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules, so today we have fined Apple over €1.8 billion.”
Apple disagreed: “The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.”
A potted history
Spotify has been pressing EU authorities to act against Apple since 2015. During these attempts, the rival service claimed the digital music market had stalled and blamed Apple for that.
However, the market actually grew in that time, undermining that argument — which is why three different cases across the last eight years have “consistently” found no evidence of consumer harm. In fact, says Apple, the digital music streaming market in Europe has grown at a rate of 27% per year since 2015.
“The reality is that European consumers have more choices than ever. Ironically, in the name of competition, today’s decision just cements the dominant position of a successful European company that is the digital music market’s runaway leader,” Apple said.
Regardless of the back and forth, change is coming with the DMA, which has not yet come into force. Spotify also had opportunities it did not take — and most streaming music services also advertise elsewhere.
What about the DMA?
When you read through the EC statement, it feels as if there are some inconsistencies. For example, Apple’s status as the sole App Store provider on iOS has already been tested and is about to be changed. The Commission also seems to have failed to enumerate any actual consumer harm, saying simply…
2024-03-10 19:41:02
Original from www.computerworld.com
