{"id":19992,"date":"2022-11-30T20:07:01","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T20:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/11\/30\/spotify-ceo-joins-elon-musk-in-slamming-apples-app-store-policies\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T20:07:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T20:07:01","slug":"spotify-ceo-joins-elon-musk-in-slamming-apples-app-store-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/11\/30\/spotify-ceo-joins-elon-musk-in-slamming-apples-app-store-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify CEO joins Elon Musk in slamming Apple’s App Store policies"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has expressed support for Twitter chief Elon Musk in his ongoing dispute with Apple<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Musk asked on Twitter if Apple \u201chate[s] free speech in America\u201d after claiming that the company has \u201cmostly stopped advertising on Twitter.\u201d He also accused Apple of threatening to withhold Twitter from its App Store while criticizing the company for the 30 percent revenue cut it takes from developers. Musk has reportedly paused the relaunch of his $8 Twitter Blue subscription<\/a> as he attempts to avoid Apple\u2019s 30 percent cut.<\/p>\n

Now, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has retweeted multiple anti-Apple tweets from Musk and launched his own lengthy Twitter thread<\/a> to blast the company.<\/p>\n

\n

Over and over again @Apple<\/a> gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers. https:\/\/t.co\/K2qi8iXwNw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) November 30, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After referencing Spotify\u2019s 2019 complaint against Apple\u2019s \u201canticompetitive practices,\u201d Ek said \u201cover and over again, Apple gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting customers.\u201d He went on to say Apple \u201cacts in self interest but also doesn\u2019t seem to care about the law or courts\u201d or about \u201cconsumer choice,\u201d accusing it of being \u201cshameless in [its] bullying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bad behaviour is far-reaching and as Elon Musk recently pointed out, not widely understood,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how much longer will we look away from this threat to the future of the internet? How many more consumers will be denied choice? There\u2019s been a lot of talk. Talk is helpful but we need action,\u201d he concluded while tagging the U.S. Commerce Department, European Commission and European Commission VP Margrethe Vestager.<\/p>\n

Ek\u2019s comments also come just one month after Spotify published a blog post<\/a> titled \u201cApple\u2019s Anti-Competitive Behavior Hurts Everyone.\u201d The blog cited a story from The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>reporting that Apple rejected its in-app audiobook purchasing system three times due to it violating its App Store rules. Spotify eventually conceded, but not without criticizing Apple extensively:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe Audiobooks purchase flow that Apple\u2019s rules force us to provide consumers today is far too complicated and confusing \u2014 confusing because they change the rules arbitrarily, making them impossible to interpret. Bottom line, we\u2019re forced to make users work even harder to listen to an audiobook. This harms not only consumers, but, this time, also authors and publishers who now find themselves under Apple\u2019s thumb.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Outside of Spotify,\u00a0Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also recently backed Musk.<\/p>\n

Sharing a\u00a0Daily Mail <\/em>article<\/a> about Apple\u2019s handling of personal data in China, Sweeney called the iPhone maker \u201ca menace to freedom worldwide\u201d that \u201cmaintain[s] an illegal monopoly on app distribution.\u201d He\u2019s also been retweeting several tweets that have been critical of Apple.<\/p>\n

\n

Apple is a menace to freedom worldwide. They maintain an illegal monopoly on app distribution, they use it to control American discourse, and they’re endangering protesters in China by storing sensitive customer data in a state-owned data center.https:\/\/t.co\/DX1SmULPZe<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Possibly Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) November 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sweeney has long been at war with Apple, most notably through a major antitrust lawsuit filed in August 2020<\/a>. As part of the dispute, Epic\u2019s\u00a0Fortnite\u00a0<\/em>game featured a 1984-<\/em>inspired ad<\/a> to rally players against Apple and Sweeney even said \u201cit\u2019s everybody\u2019s duty to fight,\u201d controversially likening the conflict to the civil rights movement<\/a>. A September 2021 court ruling largely favoured Apple<\/a>, which Epic is currently appealing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Apple has yet to publicly comment on Musk\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n