Spotify has become the latest big tech player to pile pressure on Apple’s practices with the iOS App Store.

Apple’s walled-garden approach to its mobile platform has been criticised by multiple major companies over the years including Netflix and Fortnite publisher Epic Games, with critics arguing that Apple has abused its market position and used its App Store rules to stifle competition.

Spotify is the most noteworthy signatory alongside companies such as Deezer, Proton and Basecamp in an open letter addressed to the EU antitrust regulator’s executive vice president Margrethe Vestager. The letter reiterates Spotify’s previously filed complaints against Apple in various countries that the iPhone maker’s 30 per cent charge for using the App Store has caused it to “artificially inflate” its subscription prices.

The joint industry letter calls on the EU to take “swift and decisive action” from the bloc “against anticompetitive and unfair practices by certain global digital gatekeepers, and Apple in particular.”

It adds: “Beyond the specific App Store case, the EU authorities urgently need to look at Apple’s abusive behaviour in other areas as well, such as publishing, web softwares, communications, and marketplaces.”

Share Story: