Apple responds to Spotify: App Store accusations are 'rumors and half-truths’ (AAPL)
Getty Images, Justin Sullivan
Spotify has accused Apple of using its power over its App Store to engage in unfair business practices.
Now, Apple's top lawyer, Bruce Sewell, has fired back in a letter to Spotify obtained by BuzzFeed.
An Apple spokesperson confirmed the letter was real but declined to comment.
Sewell opens the letter by saying that Apple is "disappointed with the public attacks" that Spotify has made.
On Thursday, Recode reported that it had obtained a private letter from Spotify to Apple accusing it of using its App Store as a "weapon to harm competitors," but Spotify has been making these general arguments publicly for about a year.
"We find it troubling that you are asking for exemptions to the rules we apply to all developers, and are publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service," Sewell wrote.
Spotify's general complaint is that Apple takes either a 30% or 15% cut of subscriptions generated through its iPhone or iPad app. So Spotify invited and encouraged users on its app to sign up online instead of through its app, which is against Apple's policies.
So Apple rejected an update that Spotify wanted to make to its app.
"Shortly after Spotify submitted its app on May 26, our team identified a number of issues, including that the in-app purchase feature had been removed and replaced with an account sign-up feature clearly intended to circumvent Apple's in-app purchase rules," Sewell wrote. "That feature exists only for the purpose of avoiding having to pay Apple for your use of the App Store by emailing customers within hours, directing them to use Spotify on its website. A clear violation of the terms every other developer adheres to."
The issue is touchy for Apple because Spotify is accusing Apple of policies that may be considered anticompetitive behavior, and the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether to bring an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
"There is nothing in Apple's conduct that 'amounts to a violation of applicable antitrust laws,'" Sewell wrote.
Spotify's head of communications tweeted this in response to Apple's letter:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/748967657853095936
This is what @Apple wants you to believe violates their rules. No offer, no purchase, no link to anywhere at all. pic.twitter.com/WzLDvWw2In
Read the letter here:
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