Spotify calls on authorities to restrict Apple's “anti-competitive behavior”; Apple says alternatives to its services exist, bundling can save customers money
Spotify released a public statement after Apple's Time Flies event to protest the newly announced Apple One bundle …
AppleInsiderWesley Hilliard
Context & Ripple Effects
Spotify's protest of Apple One is the latest move in a campaign that stretches back years: the company filed an anti-trust complaint with the European Commission in 2019 over App Store rules, and the two firms traded public accusations back in 2016 when Apple charged Spotify with seeking preferential treatment after an app rejection. What is new with Apple One is the battleground itself — the dispute has shifted from the 30% App Store cut to Apple using a bundle of Music, TV+, Arcade and iCloud as a competitive weapon.
The timing matters: Spotify went public immediately after Apple's Time Flies event, framing the bundle not as a pricing move but as a regulatory problem. Apple's counter — that alternatives to its services exist and bundling saves customers money — sets up the exact self-preferencing argument EU regulators are already weighing from Spotify's earlier complaint.
First-order effects
Spotify is asking EU authorities to treat Apple One as an extension of the conduct named in its 2019 complaint, putting the bundle on the regulator's radar at launch rather than after the fact.
Apple's defense — that rival services exist and bundling cuts customer costs — positions the company to argue the bundle is a consumer benefit, not a foreclosure of competitors like Spotify Premium.
Second-order effects
Apple One's discounted pricing pressures every standalone music and streaming subscription to justify its own price against a bundle the customer may effectively be getting 'for free' — competitors cannot match it without their own hardware and services stack.
The European Commission, already holding Spotify's complaint, gains a concrete, newly launched example to examine, raising the odds the case broadens from App Store fees to first-party service bundling.
Third-order effects
If regulators accept Spotify's framing, platform owners face structural limits on how aggressively they can package first-party services against rivals distributed through their own stores — the same self-preferencing question that later surfaces in Apple's dispute over its DMA compliance plan.
The recurring pattern — app rejection, complaint, bundle, regulatory fight — suggests App Store disputes are migrating from private commercial conflicts into standing regulatory doctrine, with Spotify's renewed accusations that Apple is choking competition showing the campaign is cumulative rather than one-off.
The trend: Platform owners are increasingly using cross-service bundles to defend their ecosystems, and rivals like Spotify are responding by pushing each new bundle straight into antitrust review rather than competing on price alone.
This will be particularly problematic in Europe, where there is actual antitrust enforcement. But Apple was always headed here by launching music and video streaming services. https://twitter.com/...
It I'm not wrong, it seems to me pretty much like a confession... “Yes, we take advantage of our dominant position to conquer adjacent markets through predatory pricing” @TomValletti @EU_Competition @antitrust_it https://twitter.com/...
It is like clockwork. CEOs of competing firms always say this when Apple enters their space. Within a year they will be Spotify-ing Apple Anti-Trust stuff https://www.cnbc.com/... FWIW, I do think Peloton hardware sales will be fine in the short term.
Spotify is going around providing statements to the press reminding them how Apple is a monopoly. Apple's product event hadn't even ended 30 minutes ago. This sure looks like a new tactic in going up against Apple. https://twitter.com/...
Spotify, via PR, says Apple bundle that combines music with other services helps make Spotify's antitrust case, and “threatens our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect.” https://twitter.com/...
Apple hardware and services couldn't be clearer here with Fitness+. Buy an Apple Watch AND it's free for three months. Then $9.99 a month. Who needs $30 a month Peloton?
Every time Apple spends all this time talking about fitness I wonder how much that over-indexes the culture of the bay area, where there's basically nothing to do except exercise.
$29.95/mo for everything though is actually pretty good. Independently, these services would cost $49.94. Granted, you probably weren't playing for Arcade or News+ anyways....
I'm growing more and more uncomfortable with Apple moving from a consumer products company to a services company. (Or is it really moving from a software company to a SaaS company?) #AppleEvent
Slight update to AppleCare+ today: you now get 2 incidents of accidental damage every 12 months, an improvement from every 24 months. Same for thefts on the higher tier plan.
Will you buy an Apple One sub from the 3 plans below? I pay $9.99 / month for shared Cloud, and was gonna try Fitness Plus for $9.99.... But the remaining Premier pkg seems unnecessary. Don't wanna pay for News+ or Apple TV, and I prefer Spotify to iTunes. Games app is fine 🤷🏼♀ …
#AppleOne will drive many people to pick #Premier given the savings you get compared to the individual services. Interesting Apple seems to keep pricing consistent just not offer higher tier in some markets as News+ is not available #AppleEvent https://twitter.com/...
apple is losing me w the subscription options. i (everyone?) hates options. i already have too many subscription decisions to make with streaming services. just gimme one option. they called it ONE but there are three options for ONE.
Apple One tidbits: - You can buy more iCloud storage in addition to what's included in the bundle, but prices not known yet. - Individual plan still lets you share TV+/Arcade with family. - Premier only available in countries that have News+ https://9to5mac.com/...
Super aggressive pricing for Apple One Premier @$29.95. For anyone with family plans of Apple services this could be a no brainer. In some ways the storage bundle is actually the biggest hook.
Antitrust concerns, btw, are the best argument for Apple *not* bundling music and other services with its devices. Which *would* be a compelling bundle. https://twitter.com/...