Why Spotify Hates Apple One (And For Good Reason)

September 16, 2020 Topic: Technology Blog Brand: Techland Tags: AppleApple OneApple TV+Spotify

Why Spotify Hates Apple One (And For Good Reason)

A new Apple bundle takes things like Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and more and packages them into a discounted plan. Spotify is not happy. 

Following weeks of fights between Apple and “Fortnite” parent company Epic Games over the terms of App Store purchases, another company is on the warpath against the tech giant- its music streaming service rival Spotify.

At Apple’s “Time Flies” event Tuesday, at which the company unveiled new Apple Watches and iPads while also announcing a new bundle of its services called Apple One. The Apple One bundle, which had long been rumored, its set to arrive this fall, and will give customers the chance to order multiple Apple services while paying less than they would need to if they bought them individually.

The Individual plan includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and 50 GB of iCloud storage. The Family plan includes all three of those services, in addition to 200GB of iCloud, and the ability to share with five other people. The Premium plan, meanwhile, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 2TB of iCloud storage, in addition to Apple News+ and the new Fitness+, a multi-screen “personalized fitness experience,” which was also announced Tuesday.

Spotify is a direct competitor with one of the services offered in the bundle, Apple Music. And shortly after the event, Spotify issued a blistering statement attacking Apple for its business practices.

"Once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favoring its own services,” said the statement, which was issued to media outlets following the event.

“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.”

In addition to competing with Apple Music, Spotify also operates as an app that’s available in Apple’s App Store, which is likely what the reference was to “favoring its own services.” The company, last year, launched a pair of investigations in the European Union over Apple’s practices, both with the App Store and Apple Pay, per The Verge.

Apple issued its own statement in response.

“Customers can discover and enjoy alternatives to every one of Apple’s services. We’re introducing Apple One because it is a great value for customers and a simple way to access the full range of Apple’s subscription services,” Apple said, per The Verge.

“We’ll be recommending the Apple One plan that saves you the most money based on the subscriptions you already have. It’s perfect for anyone who loves any of our services and wants to get more for less, and it’s especially great for families. Also select services included in Apple One are available to enjoy on non-Apple devices, and you can cancel anytime.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver