Spotify doesn’t like the Apple One bundle, saying that Apple is abusing its dominant market position.
Once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favoring its own services. We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple’s anti-competitive behavior, which if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect.
Bundles save people money, therefore bundles are good for customers. As for competitors? At least Apple pays artists more. As for the dominant position claim, as of 2019 Apple Music has more paid subscribers in the U.S., but Spotify has more paid users in the world. As Neil Cybart said, this is just guerilla warfare of companies piling on against Apple because they’re not making as much money. As I say, cutthroat capitalism.
Check It Out: Spotify Doesn’t Like the Apple One Bundle, Calling it Unfair
It is unfair, but such is the nature of the way markets and accumulation of leverage and power works.
The only thing that can change it is conscious decisions by lawmakers to setup a different set of rules which can create a more level playing field, known as regulation. But such things are fraught with the perils of undue influence and unintended consequences.
Not certain what the solution is, but since I already am in on the apple train and will be paying $40/month on my apple services for various apple ID’s, I suppose stepping over to Apple One makes no difference to me except for adding potentially a couple of extra services I have never used and don’t know if I will use.
Agree with Geo duck. Disagree with jcgarza. I personally wouldn’t touch Appel music with a 1000ft pole because I dont trust it to not destroy my purchased music. But apple doesn’t have the dominant position in anything. Not in smartphone marketshare. Not in music streaming. Not in computer operating systems.
Spotify are just being loser opportunists because there is a chance to sick the govt. on a competitor. Pretty scummy but understandable. But it’s a LOSER mentality. It’s the Jets of music. They are playing not to lose, rather than providing a value proposition to beat apple. No one is stopping Spotify from doing more. How about buy HD tracks and sell high fi audio? How about branch out into video. How about innovate.
No, instead they are sicking mommy govt. like a tattle tale rat, and frankly they will lose as apple just doesn’t have dominance in any area.
They’v achieved something with their whiney **** behavior. Made me not want to root for the underdog. That takes a lot of marketing incompetence, but that’s where Spotify just cant stop excelling.
Agree. Was going to post a similar comment yesterday (perhaps lacking your tender finesse), but got tied up.
Spotify’s whinginess is not simply an opportunistic pile-on, in an effort to get regulators to hobble if not halt Apple’s march onto their turf and eating their lunch, it is a naked appeal to set limits on a free and competitive market if someone loses. There is no argument here, in my layman’s opinion, for anticompetitive behaviour based on market share, dominance, price fixing or otherwise. Spotify are facing a reckoning with the limitations of being a one trick pony, however great the trick, facing a multidisciplinary platform of moving parts that can simultaneously compete in multiple spaces with effect.
When businesses stand in one place for too long in an evolving market, they risk becoming road kill. They need to become nimble, adapt and step up their competitiveness. Or die. Their choice.
Each of these disciplines where Apple expand and compete, eg fitness watches or online fitness services, could make a similar argument, and no doubt will, if this gains traction.
I usually side with Apple, but this is one issue where I just can’t. While Spotify was putting together the streaming market, Steve Jobs was saying, “People want to own their music.” When they finally couldn’t ignore the trend any longer, they buy Beats Music, re-brand it, haphazardly merge it with iTunes, and now bundle it. They should’ve kept Beats music as the streaming service and “Music” as the one you sync w/iTunes for your purchased music. I’m sure Netflix would have something to say if Apple suddenly started offering all of the same movies they do as part of the Apple One bundle.
Even if I were interested in Spotify, their absolute three year old whinyness would turn me off.