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Spotify has reached 83 million subscribers. Elizabeth Keatinge has more.
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The battle of music streaming titans is officially engaged.

On Wednesday, Spotify complained to European Commission antitrust regulators that Apple is not playing fair and harming consumers. Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, said that the rules of the App Store give Apple Music an "unfair advantage at every turn."

On Thursday, Apple fought back against the streaming service saying that Spotify wanted "to enjoy all the benefits of a free application without being free." The iPhone maker has also added some more subtle jousts in the long press release "Adressing's Spotify's Claims".

Apple has stated in its public reply that Spotify has been using the App Store for years to significantly expand their business, but now wants to reap benefits from it "without making any contribution to this market."

"The majority of customers are using their free advertising-funded product, which does nothing to help the App Store," Apple said. "Even now, only a tiny fraction of their subscriptions fall under Apple's revenue sharing model. Spotify requests that this number be zero. "

The complaint: Spotify says 'apple tax' harms consumers and stifles rivals: EU complaint

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In response to Spotify's claims that Apple has prevented it from using services such as Siri, HomePod and Apple Watch, Apple has indicated that it has communicated with Spotify "several times", to which point Spotify had "indicated that he was working".

The tech giant further added that Spotify's mention of Apple Watch was "particularly surprising" since the Spotify Watch application had been revised and accepted in 2018 with the same process and speed as any other application.

"The only contribution required by Apple is for digital goods and services purchased in the application using our integrated secure purchasing system," Apple said.

Regarding the 30% tax imposed by Apple on paid applications, which is the focus of Spotify's complaint since Apple Music is not subject to it, Apple believes that the feelings of Spotify are misleading.

"This revenue share is 30% for the first year of an annual subscription, but they left out that this percentage would be reduced to 15% in the following years," Apple said.

"We feel compelled to react when Spotify summarizes his financial motives in a misleading rhetoric about our identity," Apple said. "Spotify would not be their current business without the ecosystem of the App Store."

Do you prefer Apple Music or Spotify? Do you use both? Tell Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown.

Read or share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/03/15/apple-says-spotify-wouldnt-survive-without-apple-store/3173346002/