In the world of music streaming giants, Spotify should soon be rubbing its hands.
After the complaint filed by the Swede against Apple for
“abuse of a dominant position”
more than four years ago, the European Commission is preparing to impose a hefty fine of 500 million euros on the American firm, according to the
Financial Times
.
This decision, which should be announced at the beginning of March, would be a great first for Brussels, which has never sanctioned Apple in the name of competition...
In its complaint at the time, Spotify accused the American group of being both a mobile application store (with the App Store) and a publisher of applications like Apple Music.
And take advantage of it.
Spotify believes in particular that it is having difficulty communicating with users to tell them how to subscribe, at a cheaper price, outside of the App Store.
After this complaint, the European Commission opened an investigation in 2020 and then published, in 2021, a
preliminary
“statement of objections” .
She considered that Apple had
“distorted competition in the music streaming market by abusing its dominant position”
, in particular by imposing its purchasing mechanism.
Next month, the Commission should officially declare that Apple's commercial conditions are unfair, and that they go against European competition rules.
Regulators should order the Cupertino group to change its practices, according to the
Financial Times
.
The sanction would come in an already tense context between Brussels and the tech giants, who must comply, from March 7, with the new law on digital markets, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).