After some negotiation earlier this year, Spotify announced on Wednesday that it has now obtained approval from Apple to include pricing details in its iOS app for users in the EU. The company is leveraging new antitrust guidelines imposed by the EU for music streaming apps, rather than adhering to Apple’s new business rules under the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
Back in March, Apple was fined €1.84 billion by European regulators for violating antitrust regulations in the market. This fine stemmed from ongoing discussions between Spotify and Apple regarding an update to Spotify’s app that would enable the music streaming service to share pricing information with EU users.
Spotify confirmed that its app update has been approved, allowing it to display the pricing for items like Spotify subscriptions and digital goods, including its recently added collection of audiobooks.
The update will also enable users to view pricing for subscription plans incorporating audiobook streaming, as well as purchase additional listening hours and individual audiobooks.
However, Spotify will not be able to provide a direct link to its website due to Apple’s 27% commission charge on sales linked from the app. Instead, the app can only direct users to Spotify’s website without specifying the domain name or “.com” address.
In conjunction with the pricing information update, Spotify will be launching a promotion in the EU to encourage users to upgrade their subscription plans through the website, a feature that has always been available on Android without any issues.
As part of the current promotion, Spotify will offer the first three months of service for free before the subscription begins.
While this move marks progress for Spotify towards serving its customers through its own commission-free payments platform, the company is determined to continue its fight for the ability to link from its iOS app to its website without incurring fees from Apple.
In a blog post announcing the changes, Spotify expressed its desire to provide iPhone users with the same product experiences found on other devices, calling out Apple’s “illegal and predatory taxes” hindering the ability for music streaming services to offer a seamless purchasing experience directly within the app.
