Apple fined €1.8 billion by EU over music streaming restrictions

The European Union on Monday fined Apple more than 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for violating EU laws that prevent European users from accessing information about alternative, cheaper music streaming services.

The iPhone maker has vowed to immediately appeal the first-ever antitrust fine imposed on Apple by Brussels. This is the culmination of a lawsuit stemming from a complaint by Swedish streaming giant Spotify.

The European Commission found that “Apple has imposed restrictions on app developers that prevent them from informing iOS users about alternative, cheaper music subscription services available outside the App Store.”

“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” the EU's powerful competition regulator said.

The €1.84 billion fine is the third largest antitrust fine ever imposed by the Commission.

Margrethe Vestager, the commission's competition enforcement officer, said smaller fines would be like a “parking ticket” for a company as big as Apple, and that the €1.84 billion fine would act as a “deterrent”. stated that it is aimed at.

“We have ordered Apple to remove the necessary provisions and refrain from similar actions in the future,” Vestager added.

A wide-ranging commission investigation into the iPhone maker was launched in 2021 following a 2019 Spotify complaint, and last year Apple announced a plan to block apps from providing users with information about competing music subscription options. The investigation was narrowed down to focus on the behavior of

Vestager told reporters that Apple's actions “impacted millions of European consumers.”

“Some consumers may have paid more because they didn't know they could pay less if they subscribed outside of the app,” she says.

Apple condemned the commission's decision and said it would appeal.

Apple said in a statement: “This decision was made despite the commission's failure to find any credible evidence of consumer harm, and it is a thriving, competitive, and rapidly growing market. It ignores the reality of

“While we respect the European Commission, the facts do not support this decision,” the company added.

Spotify welcomed the fine, saying: “This sends a strong message: Even monopolistic companies like Apple abuse their power to control how other companies interact with their customers. “It cannot be exercised as such.”

“Apple's rules prevent Spotify and other music streaming services from sharing various perks directly with users within their apps.”

BEUC's umbrella consumer rights body said the fine, “combined with effective enforcement of digital market laws, should help consumers benefit from more competitive and better digital services.” Stated.

Despite the size of the penalty, critics said it pales in comparison to Apple's profits of $33.92 billion in the last three months of 2023.

“For Apple, this fine remains petty cash,” said German EU lawmaker Markus Faber.

For comparison, the city of Brussels has imposed fines of around 8 billion euros on Google over the past few years, but the US-based company is challenging the fines in EU courts.

Nevertheless, the EU expects the fine will cause Apple to stop restricting access to competing streaming services. All the more so since Apple will also be required to comply under new legislation known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA). March 7th.

Google's owner Alphabet, Amazon, TikTok's parent company ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft also have to comply with the DMA, which requires the City of Brussels to pay up to 10% of global revenue for violations and up to 20% for repeat offenses. authorized to impose fines of %.

Apple rejects the company's claims against Spotify, pointing to the streaming giant's own dominance in the online music market.

According to the company's latest statistics, Spotify has more than 600 million monthly users, of which one-third are paid members.

This isn't the first time Apple and Spotify have been at odds.

Spotify has been one of the most vocal critics of Apple's App Store changes as part of complying with the EU's DMA law.

As part of these changes, the company plans to let rival companies build app stores for the iPhone and allow payment services beyond Apple Pay on the device.

On Friday, 34 digital organizations, including Spotify and video game maker Epic Games, sent a letter to the commission expressing their concerns.

They said Apple's new conditions “if left unchanged would make a mockery of the DMA and the significant efforts by the European Commission and EU institutions to make digital markets more competitive.”

Vestager vowed to “carefully consider the details and take into account market feedback to evaluate the changes.”

Source: guardian.ng