Sources: the EU plans to fine Apple ~€500M in March for allegedly breaking EU law over access to music streaming services, following a 2019 complaint by Spotify

Move is culmination of long-running European Commission antitrust probe after a complaint by Spotify

Financial Times 2024-02-19 Javier Espinoza

Context & Ripple Effects

Spotify’s 2019 complaint grew into formal EU scrutiny when regulators were reported to be preparing antitrust charges over App Store rules for music-streaming rivals in 2021. By late 2023, coverage indicated the case could produce a ban on anti-steering rules for music services as well as a penalty.

The reported March fine would mark the enforcement phase of that multiyear dispute: a test of whether the Commission can constrain how a platform directs app-based customers to payment and subscription options.

First-order effects

Apple would face a significant EU antitrust penalty and an adverse finding centered on its treatment of music-streaming services, subject to the Commission’s final decision.
Spotify and other music-streaming rivals would gain regulatory backing for their challenge to App Store restrictions on communicating alternative purchase options.

Second-order effects

The case increases pressure on Apple to reassess App Store terms and communications rules for subscription apps, while rival services gain a stronger basis to seek comparable treatment.
Other platform operators and app developers will closely watch the remedy, because its practical value depends on whether developers can direct users to offers outside a platform’s payment flow.

Third-order effects

If sustained, enforcement moves competition policy from scrutinizing platform commissions alone toward governing the user-routing and disclosure rules that protect those commissions.
The case suggests that gatekeeper oversight may become more sector-specific, with regulators testing how platform rules affect individual app categories before applying broader obligations.

The trend: This is one data point in the shift toward regulating platform take rates through anti-steering and user-choice rules rather than focusing only on headline fees.

Discussion

@geradinlaw Damien Geradin on x
@UGambini ... Bigger significance in my view. Signals the EC is fed up with @Apple's bullshit.
@florian4gamers Florian Mueller on x
It took the EU Commission 5+ years to come up with a narrow ruling that won't help anyone outside music streaming, is just about antisteering rules (not actual in-app payment alternatives) and a fine that is low compared to e.g. the Google cases. It's laughable. 🧵1/2
@florian4gamers Florian Mueller on x
Where things stand now, some banks may get the best deal in terms of Apple antitrust enforcement if Apple doesn't somehow keep its tap-to-pay monopoly in the EU anyway. And Epic's U.S. injunction appears to have more potential than the EU Spotify case.
@laurbjn @laurbjn on x
EU to hit Apple with first ever fine in €500mn penalty over music streaming. Move is culmination of long-running European Commission antitrust probe after a complaint by Spotify. https://www.ft.com/...
@mysk_co @mysk_co on x
The EU fines Apple €500m for blocking music apps from telling customers about how to subscribe outside the iOS app. Meanwhile, Amazon used to offer an option in the iOS app to email customers about how to get a subscription outside the app. The option has now been removed. [image…
@ugambini @ugambini on x
finally.... for @eldsjal @Spotify @fra_versace ... but its just “another fine” ... motorway toll, part of the calculated cost of doing business in the big EU single market cake 🎂 cc @Caffar3Cristina @barryclynn @TomValletti [image]
@moo9000 Mikko Ohtamaa on x
Apple gets its first fine, 500M EUR, for not allowing Spotify and others to inform the users about cheaper subscription options outside App Store https://www.ft.com/... [image]
@ellisitems @ellisitems on x
EU shakedown of US tech companies continues. Perhaps they can use the money to increase defense spending.... https://www.ft.com/... via @ft
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Another aspect of the EC process is fines are huge and seemingly random. Most regulations are written with fines as a percentage of top line turnover—HUGE (v DMA's criteria of hardcoded weird numbers). Appeals to fines are another house of mirrors. Fines also fund more regs. [ima…
@florian4gamers Florian Mueller on x
@GeradinLaw ... It's more significant that Apple offered some commitments to settle the NFC/tap-to-pay case. The Spotify case is now ending with a weak result (if it is upheld on appeal), and the EC thought the DMA was going to solve the problem. But it won't in its current form.…
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
That's the loose change in couch cushions in Tim's office. https://www.theverge.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Apple has been fined €500 million by the EU for its rule preventing apps like Spotify from telling users they can purchase subscriptions outside the App Store to avoid Apple's 30% fee. This is Apple's first EU fine. It's probably not its last. [image]
r/europe r on reddit
Report: EU to fine Apple about $500 million for anticompetitive App Store policy in music streaming market
r/apple r on reddit
EU to hit Apple with first ever fine in €500mn penalty over music streaming

Chronicles