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Spotify founder/CEO Daniel Ek is meeting with members of the United States Congress and the Biden administration this week in Washington, D.C., to urge them to pass legislation that would rein in the “stranglehold” companies like Apple have over the competition on their app stores. The executive revealed in a Wednesday (April 19) post on Spotify’s For the Record blog after teasing in a tweet on Sunday that he was headed to the U.S. capital.
The Open App Markets Act — which was introduced in August 2021 and which Ek has previously lobbied for — would bar Apple, Google and other app stores with more than 50 million users from forcing app developers to use their payment systems as a condition of distribution. It would also block app store owners from punishing app developers if they extend deals to customers or offer their app for lower prices elsewhere.
While the bill was advanced by a Senate committee last year, no further action was taken. With this trip, Ek is looking to train a renewed spotlight on the bill, which he hopes will be resurrected for a wider vote by the new Congress.
Apple has lobbied against the bill, arguing that it could lead to consumers loading apps onto their smartphones from places outside of its centralized app store, introducing potential privacy risks.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Ek has argued that Apple and others act as anti-competitive gatekeepers because the terms required for inclusion in their app stores prevent Spotify and others from telling consumers about new products or deal offers.
“Apple prohibits competition by not allowing developers to discuss new products, features, and deals with their own users,” Ek wrote in an editorial posted to Spotify’s blog on Wednesday (April 19). “For instance, Apple promotes deals for Apple Music to Spotify customers, but denies us the same privilege.”
Read Ek’s full editorial on Spotify’s For The Record blog here.
Even if classical music made up just 1% of U.S. music consumption in 2022, according to Luminate, Apple’s new streaming service dedicated to the genre could mean big things for the subscription market.
Global recorded music revenues rose for the eighth straight year in 2022 — but markets are maturing, and the once high-flying growth rate fell to single digits. That doesn’t mean the music subscription business is getting stale, though. In fact, there are plenty of new ideas and much-needed innovations that can help push the streaming market forward.
The latest, and one of the best, examples of how the music business can build a better mousetrap is Apple Music Classical. Apple wanted to better serve classical music fans but realized the best path was to break away from the Apple Music subscription app that works fine for every other genre. So, it built Apple Music Classical, a standalone app for Apple’s iOS devices — the Android app will arrive later — that launched on Tuesday to some rave reviews (GQ called it “a ton of fun”).
Classical music has always been a second-class citizen in digital music because of the way its metadata — information about the recording — is organized. For most genres, describing music by artist, track and album is an adequate way to organize a massive number of recordings. Download stores and streaming services are built around this classification system. But since the advent of iTunes and download purchases, people have recognized that classical music doesn’t fit well in the standard metadata system. In classical music, music is better organized by such categories as conductor, orchestra and movement. This could help explain why classical music accounted for 2.7% of U.S. digital album sales but just 0.8% of on-demand streams in the U.S. last year, according to Luminate.
“It’s the works-based nature of classical,” says Dart Music founder Chris McMurtry, now a vp at Pex, a digital music rights company. “That’s why Apple had to build a separate app.” McMurtry addressed that problem at Dart Music, a digital distributor that focused on classical music and built a database with metadata fields better suited for the genre.
Apple wasn’t the first company to see an opportunity in classical music. Dart Music launched in 2015 to tackle the metadata angle (its assets were acquired in 2017 by Haawk), and classical-focused streaming isn’t new, either. Idagio debuted in 2015. Primephonic launched in 2019 and was acquired by Apple in 2021. Universal Music Group’s Deutsche Grammophon imprint debuted its own service, Stage+, in 2022.
But Apple’s entry into the classical music streaming market could be the most impactful to date. Apple has billions of customers around the globe and an increasingly successful services business that includes the Apple Music subscription app and Apple TV+, a streaming video-on-demand platform. Those cloud-based services, combined with Apple’s bread-and-butter business of selling smartphones and laptops, give the company the resources and marketing might to activate a passionate group of music aficionados that has been underserved by streaming platforms better suited for rock, pop and hip-hop.
“It exceeded my expectations,” says McMurtry, who looked up well-known names and obscure composers to appreciate the app’s level of detail. He says he was impressed by the depth of metadata — the producers, engineers, mixers, other contributors, year of the recording and even the composers’ birth and death years. “It’s a very educational experience.”
If Apple Music Classical can hook McMurtry, maybe it can lure more people into the music subscription market. In 2022, there were 92 million subscribers to streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, according to the RIAA. In total, 214 million Americans — 75% of the population 12 and older — streamed music in the past month, according to a January 2023 survey by Edison Research. Younger consumers were far more likely to stream music than older listeners, however, with 53% of people over the age of 55 having done so compared to 89% of 12-to-34-year-olds and 85% of 35-to-54-year-olds. A good classical music app can help narrow that sizable gap, attract more subscribers and generate more subscription revenue.
Going after classical music fans makes financial sense, too. For starters, they’re plentiful, says Russ Crupnick, partner at market research firm MusicWatch. “By comparison, they are somewhat larger than the entire population of vinyl buyers,” he says. As older consumers, they can afford a standalone classical music app: Crupnick says classical music fans’ mean income is 35% higher than average. They’re also twice as likely to purchase expensive, audiophile stereo equipment. When asked if obtaining the highest-quality sound format is important, 64% of classical music fans said yes, and 54% are willing to pay more to get it. Fortunately for them, Apple Music Classical is free of charge to Apple Music subscribers. “It will be interesting to see whether Apple eventually adds fees to monetize the service, or subsidizes it as they have higher resolution audio,” says Crupnick.
There’s great potential outside of the United States, too. Apple Music Classical will eventually be available in three strong markets for classical music: Japan, China and South Korea. In China, the fifth-largest recorded music market in 2022, according to the IFPI, classical music has been a phenomenon since the Cultural Revolution. Gramophone magazine described it as a “gargantuan market for the consumption of recorded classical music even if only as a study aid or as a residue of having Mozart and Beethoven sonatas tinkling through the family home.”
The digital market has performed incredibly well without a mass appeal offering tailored for classical music fans. Record labels generated $16.9 billion from streaming in 2022 while mostly ignoring an important subset of the market. With Apple Music Classical, Idagio and Stage+ super-serving classical music fans, there’s potential to do better.
You can take yourself dancing and even cycling to Miley Cyrus‘ music, thanks to Apple Fitness+ newly added workouts. In honor of Women’s History Month, Cyrus, Mariah Carey and Shania Twain will be highlighted as part of the program’s Artist Spotlight series, which dedicates an entire set of workouts to a single artist and their discography.
Starting Monday (March 6), Fitness+ users can pedal to the beat of the “Flowers” singer’s music in a cycling workout, return to heart center when it’s a wrap on the Carey-inspired yoga workout and feel like a powerful woman post-strength workout featuring Twain’s tunes.
Fitness+ Artist Spotlight
Courtesy of Apple
New workouts will roll out every Monday throughout the month of March. Ahead of the release of her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, due March 10 via Columbia Records, Cyrus will have her fans sweating and singing along to her biggest hits while getting that summer body through dance, HIIT, strength and cycling workouts.
Meanwhile, the Lambily will need to stretch as far and wide as Mimi’s vocal range — which spans across five octaves and goes all the way up to those whistle tones we all try reaching when belting out her 1991 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Emotions” — ahead of her cycling, dance, HIIT and yoga workouts.
And the Queen of Country Pop’s cycling, yoga, strength and treadmill workouts will prove her fans ain’t no quitters and will leave them impressed with their results. “You’ve got to make working out fun, do what you love, so it feels like burning energy instead of a job! I hear lots of people like listening to my music in the gym and it makes me so happy – it means it’s energetic and inspirational,” Twain said in a press statement. “That’s why I’m so excited for this Artist Spotlight series on Fitness+. So Giddy Up! And do what makes you happy!”
Other musicians who’ve had sets of Apple Fitness+ workouts dedicated to them include Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, BTS, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Lopez, Pharrell Williams, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, ABBA, Prince, Shakira, The Beatles, Nicki Minaj and many more.
According to the Apple Fitness+ website, anyone who purchases a new iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad or Apple TV (and hasn’t previously subscribed to Apple Fitness+) will have free access to Apple Fitness+ for three months before paying $9.99 monthly, or $79.99 annually. New subscribers who already have the aforementioned Apple products can get free access to Apple Fitness+ for one month. Apple Fitness+ can be shared with up to five family members.
Apple on Thursday posted its first quarterly revenue drop in nearly four years after pandemic-driven restrictions on its China factories curtailed sales of the latest iPhone during the holiday season. The company’s sales of $117 billion for the October-December period represented a 5% decline from the same time in the previous year, a deeper downturn than analysts had projected.
Despite the downturn — which marks Apple’s first year-over-year decrease in quarterly revenue since the January-March period in 2019 when sales also slipped 5% — the company’s Apple Services division actually set a new revenue record. The company said that combined, Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade and others generated $20.8 billion for the three months ending Dec. 31, up from up from $19.5 billion a year earlier. Apple said that it now has more than 935 million paid subscriptions across its services, up from more than 900 million paid subscriptions reported in the previous quarter.
Apple’s profit also eroded during the past quarter, even though the Cupertino, California, company remained a pillar of prosperity. Earnings totaled $30 billion, or $1.88 per share, a 13 decrease from the same time in the previous year. Those results also missed a target of $1.94 per share set by analysts polled by FactSet Research.
Investors reacted to the letdown by initially driving down Apple’s stock by nearly 5% in Thursday’s extended trading. But management remarks made during a conference call with analysts raised hopes that Apple’s disappointing performance may have been a mere hiccup, paring the decrease in the company’s shares to less than 1%.
Apple’s rare stumble came against a backdrop of renewed investor optimism about tech’s outlook for this year, helping to spur a 17% increase in the sector’s bellwether Nasdaq composite index so far this year.
But now Wall Street seems likely to reassess things in light of Apple’s latest results and ongoing worries about a potential recession in the wake of rising interest rates aimed at tamping down inflation, said Investing.com analyst Jesse Cohen.
With Google also disclosing a year-over-year quarterly decline in its digital ad sales on Thursday alongside Apple’s disappointing performance, Cohen said it’s clear there are “several challenges the tech sector faces amid the current economic climate of slowing growth and elevated inflation.”
Despite the quarterly downturn in its fortunes. Apple hasn’t signaled any intention to resort to mass layoffs — a stark contrast to its peers in technology. Industry giants Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms have announced plans to jettison more than a combined 50,000 employees as they adjust to revenue slowdowns or downturns caused by people’s lessening dependence on the digital realm as the pandemic has eased.
“We manage for the long term,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during the conference call. “We invest in innovation and people.”
Cook had tried to brace investors for tougher sledding in late October when he warned of “increasingly difficult economic conditions” heading into the holiday season. Then, just a few days later, Apple cautioned that China’s attempts to clamp down on the spread of COVID was affecting its production lines and would prevent meeting all the demand for the premium iPhone 14 models during the holidays.
That contributed to an 8% decrease in iPhone sales from the previous year to $65.8 billion in the most recent quarter.
Cook indicated Apple’s supply headaches are now over, assuring analysts that “production is now back where we want it to be.”
In another positive sign, Apple also disclosed that it now has more than 2 billion iPhones, iPads, Macs and other devices in active use for the first time. That is likely to help Apple sell more digital subscriptions and ads, helping to fuel long-term revenue growth.
A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee is pushing Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores because of national security concerns as the Chinese-owned company faces escalating prospects of a national ban amid bipartisan scrutiny of its data-sharing practices.
In a letter addressed to the chief executives of Apple and Alphabet, Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. says TikTok’s popularity “raises the obvious risk that the Chinese Communist Party could weaponize TikTok against the United States” by forcing parent company ByteDance to “surrender Americans’ sensitive data or manipulate the content Americans receive to advance China’s interests.”
The government has increasingly been taking action against TikTok’s ties to China. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill prohibiting the use of TikTok by nearly four million government employees on devices owned by its agencies. At least 27 state governments have passed similar measures.
There’s no evidence that the Chinese government has demanded American user data from TikTok or its parent company or influenced the content users see on the platform.
In a statement, TikTok said that the Bennet “relies almost exclusively on misleading reporting about TikTok, the data we collect, and our data security controls.” It added that the letter ignored its investment in a plan, known as Project Texas, to “provide additional assurances to our community about their data security and the integrity of the TikTok platform.”
Mirroring concerns made in a letter from a Federal Communications commissioner to Apple and Google in June, Bennett stresses TikTok’s data harvesting practices. He says its reach “allows it to amass extensive data on the American people, including device information, search and viewing history, message content, IP addresses, faceprints and voiceprints.” Unlike other tech companies that harvest similar data, he claims TikTok “poses a unique concern” because its obligated under Chinese law to cooperate with state intelligence work.
TikTok has over 100 million active users. Roughly 36 percent of Americans over 12 use the platform, spending over 80 minutes per day on the app — more than Facebook and Instagram combined. In November, TikTok confirmed that China-based employees could gain remote access to European user data. Reporting by BuzzFeed News has also revealed that company employees in China had access to US user data.
The data TikTok collects can be leveraged by the Chinese government to advance Chinese interests, according to the letter. It may be forced, for example, to tweak its algorithm to boost content that undermines U.S. democratic institutions or “muffle criticisms of CCP policy toward Hong Kong, Taiwan, or its Uighur population.”
According to Pew survey in 2022, a third of TikTok’s adult users report that they regularly access news from the app. Forbes has reported on the ability of TikTok staff to “secretly handpick videos and supercharge their distribution, using a practice known internally as heating.”
To curb criticism of its data-sharing practices, TikTok has announced a partnership with Oracle to move its data on U.S. users stored on foreign servers to Texas. The project also includes audits of its algorithms and creating a subsidiary called TikTok US Data Security to oversee content moderation policies and approve editorial decisions. U.S. employees will report to an independent board of directors.
The US Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews business dealing that may be a threat to national sceurity, is reviewing ByteDance’s 2017 merger of TikTok and Musical.ly. It may force TikTok to sell to a US company, harkening back to when former President Donald Trump issued in 2020 an executive order demanding ByteDance to divest ownership of the app (the order was blocked by a federal court). Scrutiny of TikTok quieted when Biden took office, but the company continued to run into legal trouble over data-sharing practices. In 2021, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle lawsuits alleging that the app clandestinely transferred to servers in China vast quantities of user data on children.
Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University who was briefed by TikTok about Project Texas, says the U.S. banning TikTok may “embolden other governments to do the same to apps and services from the U.S.” He adds, “It’s not clear to me that anything short of a sale will satisfy TikTok’s critics.”
TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew will appear before a House committee in March.
This article originally appeared in THR.com.
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Source: Apple / MacBook Pro
After a slight delay, Apple’s new MacBook Pro and Mac Mini utilizing its in-house chipset, have arrived.
Apple’s long-awaited MacBook Pro utilizing the company’s new M2 Pro and M2 Max, promises to deliver improvements like longer battery life and faster performance, have finally arrived.
The arrival of the new MacBook Pro allows Apple to deliver on one of its biggest goals to utilize its chipsets in its devices, allowing Apple to ditch chips manufactured by Intel.
The new MacBook Pro was initially set to launch in 2022, but due to those pesky supply chain issues, Apple set its sights on early 2023, and now we are here.
The MacBook Pro Powered By M2 Pro & M2 Max Breakdown
According to Apple, the new MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets will come in 14- and 16-inch models and will be effects rendering due to being able to complete the process “6-times faster than the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pro.”
Color grading on Apple’s new MacBook Pro also is two times faster, making these devices very attractive to those who utilize the MacBook Pro for graphics work on programs like Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro.
Battery life is also getting a significant boost which could now give users 22 hours of usage.
As far as the breakdown of the chips, the M2 Pro features either a 10- or 12-core CPU with up to eight high-performance and four high-efficiency cores and a GPU with up to 19 cores. Apple claims this will give users 20% more efficiency over devices currently using the M1 chipset.
M2 Max is a beast boasting up to 38 cores while promising a 30% improvement in graphics over the M1 Max, plus a 12-core CPU.
Both chipsets feature Wi-Fi 6E connectivity allowing for faster internet and support for advanced HDMI. Other features include three Thunderbolt 4 ports and an SDXC card slot, updated mics, and a sound system consisting of six speakers.
Pricing
You can scoop up the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starting at $1,999. The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro starts at $2,499.
The 14-inch model with M2 Max starts at $3,099, while the 16-inch model will begin at $3,499.
Other Notable Announcements From Apple
Source: Apple / Mac mini
Along with the new MacBook Pro, a new Mac mini model using the M2 and M2 Pro chipset was announced. The M2 model features 24GB of unified memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth.
The M2 Pro model boasts 32GB and a 200GB/s bandwidth and is comparatively quicker. The new Mac mini with the M2 chip starts at $599, while the M2 Pro model begins at $1,299.
You can now order all devices on Apple’s website, and each expects to launch on January 24 officially.
Photos: Apple
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Apple AirTags are moving up the list of must-haves for travel. The $29, coin-shaped gadget makes it easy to track your luggage and other items that might get lost in transit.
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AirTags have been flying off the shelves after Southwest canceled more than 13,000 flights over the holidays, leaving passengers stranded — sometimes for days at a time — and separated from their luggage.
The travel debacle ballooned into a travel nightmare that could cost Southwest upward of $800 million, and an unexpected sales win for Apple. Google searches for AirTags have spiked in the last few weeks and AirTags currently take up two spots on Amazon’s list of best-selling electronics.
AirTags have helped passengers find their bags when airlines either lost them or said they were at a different location. But they’re not only useful for travel.
AirTags are designed to help you keep a digital leash of sorts on personal belongings. That means you can use an AirTag to find or keep track of your wallet, a backpack, purse and other smaller items or something bigger like a car.
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Apple AirTag
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How does an AirTag work? It sends a secure, Bluetooth signal to iCloud that can be detected by nearby devices in Apple’s Find My network (the process is encrypted for added safety).
You’re the only one who can see the location of your AirTag, Apple doesn’t store your location or data history, and if an AirTag is near you without your knowledge, a notification will be sent to your iPhone.
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AirTag, 4-Pack
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Like other Apple devices, AirTag can also be placed in Lost Mode (a notification will be sent to your iPhone when the lost AirTag is located).
AirTags are compatible with iPhone (iPhone SE and iPhones 6s or later), iPad and Mac devices. They’re water- and dust-resistant and equipped with a replaceable, coin cell battery.
AirTag Alternatives for Android Users
Unfortunately, AirTags don’t work for Android, but there are alternative GPS tracking devices for Android users that cost around the same price as an AirTag, such as Tile Mate, LandAirSea and Samsung Galaxy Smart Tag.
Samsung’s Smart Tag finds items within 130 yards of the Galaxy Find My network and can only be used with Galaxy phones running Android 8.0 or higher (RAM 2.0GB+). The SmartThings app is required for use.
Tile has a Bluetooth range of up to 250 feet and is compatible with iOS and Android. It works with Amazon Alexa, Hey Google and Siri (download the free Tile app to get started). LandAirSea works for both Apple and Android and an app is required for use.
Shop GPS tracking for your luggage and more below.
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SAMSUNG Galaxy SmartTag Bluetooth Smart Home Accessory Tracker, Attachment Locator for Lost Keys, Bag, Wallet, Luggage, Pets, Glasses, 2021, US Version, Black
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Source: Apple / Macs
Apple is doing a major about-face on a feature that the late Steve Jobs did not want to see on his Mac computers.
Spotted on Bloomberg, Apple is now considering bringing touch screens to its Mac computers. It would break from Steve Jobs’ feelings towards the feature when that finally happens. He felt it was “ergonomically terrible.”
Per Bloomberg:
Apple engineers are actively engaged in the project, indicating that the company is seriously considering producing touch-screen Macs for the first time, according to people familiar with the efforts. Still, a launch hasn’t been finalized, and the plans could change.
For more than a decade, the company has argued that touch screens don’t work well on laptops and that the iPad is a better option if someone wants a touch interface. Apple also has worried that touch-screen Macs could cannibalize iPad sales.
Apple’s decision to go against its founder’s beliefs, Tim Cook upheld, could be from the pressure to keep up with rivals who are increasingly adding touch screens to their computers.
Plus, according to Bloomberg, the Mac has seen a resurgence, outselling the iPad, and Apple wants its computers to be popular among computer and laptop users.
When Will The Touch Screen Mac Arrive?
When can we expect to see the touch screen Mac? The website claims it could arrive in 2025 “as part of a larger update to the MacBook Pro, according to the people who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.”
The touch screen Mac would be one of the most significant decisions the company has made in years. The late Steve Jobs had a total disdain for them, saying the idea of making users reach up to touch an upright screen “doesn’t work.”
[embedded content]
Jobs also said Apple would never sell phones or tablets, but we all know what Apple’s most popular device is: the iPhone.
One accessory we are pretty sure Steve Jobs would hate is the Apple Pencil, the man who created Apple couldn’t stand the idea of styluses.
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Photo: Apple / Macs
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
AirPods still rank among the list of top-selling wireless earbuds, and if you own a pair, they could probably use a little refresh.
Like iPhones, Androids and other electronics, your earbuds can get dusty and dirty. To clean AirPods or AirPods Pro headphones manually, all you’ll need is a soft, dry, lint-free cloth to gently wipe them down (don’t run them under water).
If your Airpods are stained or damaged from dried soap, lotion, perfume, shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen and other liquids, Apple recommends slightly dampening the cloth with water before wiping the earbuds clean — and don’t use them until they’re completely dry.
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To clean the charging case, use a lint-free cloth slightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol. Make sure that you don’t get liquid in the charging ports and use a soft-bristled brush to remove any leftover dust or debris.
Want an easier option? Get a cleaning kit, like the one featured below, which is on sale for $8.99 at Amazon. The Hagibis 2-in-1 cleaning pen is a best-seller at Amazon with a 4.5-star rating and lots of positive customer reviews.
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The multi-functional kit includes a flocking sponge to clean out dust in the earphones and charging case, a high-density brush to clean dirt off the sound outlet hole and other parts of the earphone, and a metal pen tip to dig out stubborn dust and thoroughly clean hard to reach spots.
The cleaning tool can be used for AirPods and other wireless earbuds, but also keyboards, laptops, tablets, etc.
Click here to see a wider selection of cleaning kits that are available at Amazon for less than $10, like the Akiki Cleaner Kit, currently on sale for $8.99. And of course, cleaning kits for AirPods and more are available at other major retailers, including Best Buy and Walmart.
Stocking up on more new gear for the new year? Be sure to read our picks for the best Bluetooth earphones under $250, best wired earphones and this affordable cleaning solution to help keep your vinyl records intact.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on Wednesday (Nov. 30) blasted Apple for “stifling innovation and hurting consumers,” publicly renewing his company’s longstanding grievance that the tech giant abuses its dominant position over the market for smartphone apps.
In a series of tweets, the Spotify founder said Apple was “shameless in their bullying” of app developers and called on lawmakers in both the U.S. and the European Union to take “action” against a company that he said “doesn’t seem to care about the law or courts.”
“Over and over again @Apple gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers,” Ek wrote. “Apple offers consumers the illusion of choice and give[s] developers the illusion of control.”
A spokeswoman for Apple did not immediately return a request for comment on Ek’s tweets.
Spotify has long been an outspoken critic of the rules Apple imposes on its app store — namely a 30% surcharge on most transactions made within the platform, and provisions that restrict how apps steer customers toward outside payment systems.
Apple says tight rules for app developers are needed to protect users from payment fraud and privacy violations. But critics say the company — which currently controls more than half the U.S. smartphone market with the iPhone and iOS operating system — is merely exploiting its dominant position to extract more money. Those complaints are even stronger from Spotify, since it also directly competes with Apple Music for subscribers.
Google, which accounts for the vast majority of the rest of the market for smartphone apps, is facing similar criticism and litigation.
The arguments against Apple’s app policies won a powerful ally last week when new Twitter owner Elon Musk raised the issue amid his own messy dispute with the tech giant. After claiming Apple had pulled its advertising and had threatened to pull Twitter from its app store, the polarizing billionaire asked his 120 million followers if they were aware that Apple “puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy.”
In Wednesday’s thread, Ek directly quoted Musk’s tweet, as well as others who have voiced similar criticism. Citing “bipartisan support and global interest,” he said that “momentum” was building for some kind of action against Apple.
“So how much longer will we look away from this threat to the future of the internet?” Ek wrote. “How many more consumers will be denied choice? There’s been a lot of talk. Talk is helpful but we need action.”
Apple is already facing a high-profile lawsuit, filed by Fortnite creator Epic Games, that claims the app store policies violate federal antitrust laws. A trial court issued a split ruling on the case last year, and the battle is currently pending before a federal appeals court.
Though not directly involved in the Epic case, Spotify filed its own complaint against Apple in 2019 with the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory enforcement watchdog. Last year, EU regulators released preliminary findings that Apple had likely broken the law, saying the company “deprives users of cheaper music streaming choices and distorts competition.”
Even bigger changes could be coming via new legislation. In Washington, D.C., a bipartisan trio of senators are pushing a bill called the Open App Markets Act, which would impose strict new rules on both Apple and Google’s app stores. And lawmakers in the EU have already passed a new statute called the Digital Markets Act, which will place a raft of new restrictions on how app stores are run.
Though it will take time for the new EU law to fully go into effect, it was aimed directly at complaints like the one Ek voiced Wednesday against Apple. In an interview with Wired last month, one of the law’s architects said he expected “significant” consequences: “If you have an iPhone, you should be able to download apps not just from the App Store but from other app stores or from the internet.”