Spotify Updates App in Wake of ‘Significant’ Court Ruling Against Apple

Apple approved Spotify’s app update in the U.S. on Friday (May 2), marking “a significant milestone for developers and entrepreneurs everywhere who want to build and compete on a more level playing field,” according to the streamer.

The announcement followed the news that a judge told Apple to stop collecting a commission on some app sales. “After nearly a decade, this will finally allow us to freely show clear pricing information and links to purchase, fostering transparency and choice for U.S. consumers,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “We can now give consumers lower prices, more control, and easier access to the Spotify experience.” 

Epic Games, the company behind the wildly popular game Fortnite, sued Apple over its App Store policies — which ensured that Apple took a 30% cut of any payments — in 2020.

Epic Games was not the only company that disliked this arrangement: Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s chief legal officer, said in 2020 that Apple “acts as the stadium owner, referee and player, and tilts the playing field in favor of its own services.”

The following year, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that Apple had violated the state’s laws prohibiting unfair competition.

Despite that ruling, the same judge said this week that Apple put a new system in place that required apps with external sales to pay a 27% commission. The company “sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this court’s injunction,” the judge wrote. 

The judge demanded that Apple stop collecting that commission. “We strongly disagree with the decision,” an Apple spokeswoman told The New York Times. “We will comply with the court’s order, and we will appeal.”

Spotify hailed the development as “a great day” for its U.S. users. “The ruling made it clear that Apple deliberately abused its market power to intentionally harm others and benefit only itself,” the company wrote. 

Moving forward, Spotify said U.S. users will now have visibility into “pricing details on subscriptions and information about promotions that will save money,” have the option to pay for subscriptions outside of Apple’s system, and have the ability to easily upgrade from their account or change their subscription plan. 

“The fact that we haven’t been able to deliver these basic services, which were permitted by the judge’s order four years ago, is absurd,” Spotify added.