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Apple CEO Tim Cook. (Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
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The European Union is planning to launch an official investigation into the Apple App Store after Spotify has accused the California tech giant of "tipping the scales of the ground to disadvantage its competitors". according to The Financial Times.
The European Commission, an EU executive body charged with implementing the decisions, reportedly opened an antitrust investigation into Apple's behavior in the coming weeks.
Spotify has filed a official complaint to the EU in March. In the complaint, Spotify claims that Apple has behaved illegally and abused its hold on the App Store.
"Apple requires Spotify and other digital services to pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple's payment system, including upgrading our free service to our premium service", said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. a blog post in March.
"If we paid this fee, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our premium subscription well above the price of Apple Music, and to keep our prices competitive for our customers, we can not do anything."
Spotify announced last month that it has over 100 million paying subscribers, making it the market leader in the music streaming industry.
However, Apple, Google and Amazon, all of whom have built their own competing platforms, face stiff competition.
A spokesman for the European Commission said: "The commission has received a complaint from Spotify, which we are evaluating according to our standard procedures".
Apple and Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook. (Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
Getty Images
The European Union is planning to launch an official investigation into the Apple App Store after Spotify has accused the California tech giant of "tipping the scales of the ground to disadvantage its competitors", according to the newspaper The Financial Times.
The European Commission, an EU executive body charged with implementing the decisions, reportedly opened an antitrust investigation into Apple's behavior in the coming weeks.
Spotify filed a formal complaint with the EU in March. In the complaint, Spotify claims that Apple has behaved illegally and abused its hold on the App Store.
"Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple's payment system, including by switching from our free service to our premium service," said Spotify CEO Daniel Ek in March.
"If we paid this fee, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our premium subscription well above the price of Apple Music, and to keep our prices competitive for our customers, we can not do anything."
Spotify announced last month that it has more than 100 million paying subscribers, making it the market leader in the streaming music industry.
However, Apple, Google and Amazon, all of whom have built their own competing platforms, face stiff competition.
A spokesman for the European Commission said: "The commission has received a complaint from Spotify, which we are evaluating according to our standard procedures".
Apple and Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
