Spotify, the music streaming giant, along with software company Proton and music service Deezer have slammed Apple in a letter to Margrethe Vestager, Vice President of the European Union Competition Commission.
In the letter, the companies called for action against Apple’s anti-competitive practices.
“For years, Apple has imposed unfair restrictions on our businesses. These restrictions hamper our development and harm European consumers,” it said.
Four years ago, Spotify made an antitrust complaint against Apple to the EU but said little action has been taken against the Californian tech giant.
“Apple has and continues to defy every effort from courts and regulators to address these unfair practices,” the Spotify letter stated.
In November, Daniel Ek -founder of Spotify- tweeted a link to a webpage citing examples of Apple’s unfair behaviour.
It claimed Apple purposely changed rules and regulations to hinder Spotify.
“Apple has also routinely rejected and delayed upgrades and enhancements to the Spotify app,” it said arguing “they’ve done so at business-critical moments for us, like during the launch of our Audiobooks service.”
Spotify also described Apple’s 30% commission on all app store sales as “discriminatory” adding to claims the tech giant’s actions broke the law.
“EU authorities urgently need to look at Apple’s abusive behaviour in other areas as well, such as publishing, web software, communications, and marketplaces,” the letter added.
The disgruntled companies also pointed to the Digital Markets Act, urging the commission to “swiftly enforce” the bill- the act sets out regulated criteria that “gatekeepers” like Apple would have to follow.
Spotify shares are currently trading at US$92.56, up 0.8% today.