Spotify says Apple is “forcing developers to stay with the status quo” and calls on the EU to “reject this blatant disregard” of the EU's established principles
Apple is trying to frame it as dangerous. — Sadly it will only possible to run those browsers in the EU and browser makers need then to provide different browsers in the EU and outside. … Frank Reiff / @frankreiff@mastodon.social : This is as close to a “we are not amused” as the EU commission ever comes. — Google was fined 2.42B euros; Meta 1.2B.. — As an EU citizen I find it shocking that US companies simply believe themselves to be above the law.. and even more shocking that so many otherwise sane Americans can't see what the fuss is about.. of course Apple is above the law, and of course that is proper and right. … @Kierkegaanks@beige.party : @Techmeme spotify DEFINITELY has the moral high ground on fair pay X: Daniel Ek / @eldsjal : After sitting with our legal team to parse through the fine print of Apple's DMA announcement (that took a while), which is, at best vague and misleading, I wanted to share my thoughts. While Apple has behaved badly for years, what they did yesterday represents a new low, even for them. See more info here: Sriram Krishnan / @sriramk : It is often popular here to say “EU = bureaucratic regulations + decel”. In my experience with EU policy makers, it is more complicated and surprisingly often the reverse. below is a classic narrative violation. You have the EU pushing for what is undeniably “good” and a... Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @eldsjal Very concerning Kweku Opoku-Agyemang, Ph.D / @kwekuoa : It's definitely a strong approach, if not rather extreme. I'm not sure how sustainable it is, though. It's basically Epic's argument in broad daylight—but for developers—and on steroids. Hopefully cool heads will prevail. Kweku Opoku-Agyemang, Ph.D / @kwekuoa : I'm actually not surprised. Epic was speaking to the switching costs argument: that Apple's walled garden locks users into iOS and may harm competition by not allowing consumers very easy access to alternative platforms if they're dissatisfied by high prices or locked out. @elchefe : Bro you take half of the revenue from ads, pay your artists half as much as Apple and laid off a bunch of people for no reason, so you can, with every ounce of disrespect owed to a billionaire whining about unfair treatment, fuck all the way off into space. Florian Simmendinger / @simmenfl : @eldsjal You don't have a right to do business on Apple's platform on your terms. You didn't build it. I also don't get to decide under which conditions I can publish my music on Spotify. Joseph Carlson / @joecarlsonshow : @eldsjal Apple's 15% cut is too much, but you take a 50% cut from advertiser revenue on Spotify. [image] Daniel Ek / @eldsjal : Sadly this is a classic move of an old, dominant company that believes the rules don't apply to them. Instead of adapting and innovating, they're twisting the situation, making it seem like the regulators are at fault. Or even worse, pretending this has to do with security when... Daniel Ek / @eldsjal : But of course, I was skeptical of Apple's intentions to comply after years of watching them get away with such extreme abuse with all the ways they skirt regulations around the world. Who wouldn't be? But the law is the law, right? Not if you are Apple... Daniel Ek / @eldsjal : So where does that leave us? Under the new terms, we cannot afford these fees if we want to be a profitable company, so our only option is to stick with the status quo. The very thing we've been fighting against for five years. Daniel Ek / @eldsjal : Their reaction to the DMA is a masterclass in distortion. They present a ‘simple’ choice: Stick with their current terms or switch to a convoluted new model that looks attractive on the surface but has potentially even higher fees. Reality check: Apple's alternative is no alternative at all for some of the world's most popular apps. It just repackages the old terms and the 30% IAP they want to protect. Mike Dudas / @mdudas : Apple are bad people. Their uncle created the recipe. They milk it, refuse to share and hold the best people hostage with"non-competes." It's like the Mafia serving the best pizza and Italian food in Little Italy. No one else can compete because they need to pay 30% to play... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : “A completely new 0.50 cent Euro fee per download, every year, in perpetuity, to Apple for just allowing developers to exist on iOS - This is extortion, plain and simple.” - Spotify press release https://newsroom.spotify.com/ ... Patrick Moorhead / @patrickmoorhead : As discussed in the @TheSixFiveMedia Weekly podcast, @Apple is putting up smaller walls to circumvent the EC's DMA. Usually Apple is compliant, but it seems like the company is going to fight this tooth and nail. That 30% app and service payment for storing & security scanning... Steve Moser / @stevemoser : Interesting but not surprising that Spotify is sticking with the status quo given the large fees they would incur for the free downloads of their app. Christina Warren / @film_girl : The girls are fighting!!!! Daniel Ek / @eldsjal : For almost five years - 1,782 days - we have been asking the European Commission to take action against Apple. You can imagine my excitement when the DMA was created and passed into law because it was such a progressive step against Apple's App Store monopoly. LinkedIn: Mark Shaw : Damned if you do and damned if you don't — Essentially, with these new updated terms for developers, Apple is rendering the DMA's goals … Forums: r/Fauxmoi : Spotify accuses Apple of ‘extortion’ with new App Store tax: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says Apple's new rules represent “a monopoly under a different mask.” r/popculturechat : Spotify accuses Apple of ‘extortion’ with new App Store tax: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says Apple's new rules represent “a monopoly under a different mask.” MacRumors Forums : Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on Apple's EU Changes: 'They Think the Rules Don't Apply to Them'
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s EU DMA terms opened alternative distribution while introducing a per-install Core Technology Fee, a structure documented in Apple’s alternative-store framework. Spotify’s intervention put the practical economics of that framework—not simply the availability of new channels—at the center of the compliance debate.
The criticism aligned with Epic’s challenge to Apple’s new fee structure. It later gained regulatory weight when the EU’s preliminary view found Apple’s anti-steering rules breached the DMA, showing that developer communications and payment choice would be central enforcement tests.
First-order effects
- Spotify and other EU-facing app developers must assess whether Apple’s alternative terms reduce distribution dependence enough to justify new per-install and payment-related costs.
- Apple faces an immediate public challenge to its DMA implementation from major developers, increasing pressure on the Commission to examine whether the terms deliver meaningful commercial choice.
Second-order effects
- Developers with large or volatile installation volumes may be more cautious about using alternative stores or payment paths if per-install charges make their costs less predictable.
- Epic and other critics gain a more unified argument that formal access to alternatives is insufficient if Apple’s fees and terms preserve its economic leverage over distribution.
Third-order effects
- DMA enforcement may increasingly turn on the economic usability of platform alternatives—fees, steering, and payment terms—rather than on whether a gatekeeper technically opens new routes to market.
- If regulators reject compliance designs that retain comparable control through new charges, platform regulation could shift from mandating access toward testing whether access is commercially viable.
The trend: The dispute is part of a broader move to measure gatekeeper compliance by the real economic freedom developers gain, not by the number of newly available distribution options.