The move will help the company avoid Apple’s 30% fee for purchases through its App Store, giving a sigh of relief to app developers and tech giants.
Spotify users in Europe from March will be able to buy audiobooks and subscription plans from within the music-streaming app as a result of the region’s new competition law for Big Tech, the Swedish company said on Wednesday. The move will help the company avoid Apple’s 30 per cent fee for purchases through its App Store, which has long been a source of contention between app developers and the tech giant.
Spotify said, “For years Apple had these rules where we couldn’t tell you about offers, how much something costs, or even where or how to buy it,” The DMA (Digital Markets Act) means that we’ll finally be able to share details about deals, promotions, and better-value payment options in the EU.” Under the DMA, which all Big Tech firms must comply with by March 7, companies are obligated to treat their own products and services like they do rivals’.”
Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said, “We’ve always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps, and new options would add more competition in this space. Developers deserve more ways to easily get their apps to the people that want them.”
Spotify has for years been in embroiled in a legal battle, alleging that it was forced to raise the price of its monthly subscriptions to cover costs tied to Apple’s App Store rules.