Spotify and Deezer sent a letter the other day to the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, asking him to intervene against the non-competitive practices of the Apple company. The two big companies are also supported by other similar digital platforms that feel unfair because of the way the AppStore was designed and the way Apple charges commissions for purchases.
Spotify says that it is unfair for Apple to charge a fee of 30% of the price of subscriptions purchased for its platform, this percentage being reduced by the Americans to 15% for some subscriptions. Despite this, Spotify says the change is not enough to ensure that Apple Music's competing platforms can compete loyally with Apple's.
Basically, all these companies demand that Apple no longer charge a percentage of the purchases made through the AppStore applications, something that will never happen, as we know. Some of the services that attack Apple are successful precisely because they are allowed to make applications for the iPhone and iPad that they distribute through the AppStore, but they want to receive all the money that customers spend on them.
Spotify is not the first to try to convince the authorities to look more closely at what the Apple company is doing, but all previous attempts have failed, so this one will probably have the same fate.
"These obligations should include but go beyond mere transparency requirements, which alone will not ensure platforms act as gateways rather than become gatekeepers to the digital economy."
