Spotify paying tax on less than 1% of paid subscribers: Apple

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IANS | 25 Jun, 2019
Swedish music streaming service Spotify is not paying 30 per cent 'Apple tax' on its subscriptions via App Store as claimed but even less than 1 per cent of paid subscribers, Apple has said.

In a fresh filing to Spotify's complaint to European Commission (EU), Apple said the music streaming service only pays 15 per cent revenue share on just 0.5 per cent of its 100 million premium subscribers, reports Music Business Worldwide (MBW) and German site Der Spiegel.

According to Apple, "Spotify hasn't paid any additional commission on a single subscriber obtained via the App Store for the past three years".

In March, Spotify filed an anti-trust complaint against Apple with the European Commission.

The tug of war between Spotify and Apple has intensified, with the Swedish music streaming service calling Apple a "monopolist".

"Every monopolist will suggest they have done nothing wrong and will argue that they have the best interests of competitors and consumers at heart," said Spotify which entered the India market in February.

"This is evident in Apple's belief that Spotify's users on iOS are Apple customers and not Spotify customers, which goes to the very heart of the issue with Apple," it added.

Apple hit back at Spotify for its anti-trust complaint with the EU.

"A full 84 per cent of the apps in the App Store pay nothing to Apple when you download or use the app. That's not discrimination, as Spotify claims," Apple said in a statement.

In its complaint with the EU, Spotify said that Apple requires it and other digital services to pay a 30 per cent tax on purchases made through Apple's payment system, including upgrading from a free to premium subscription.

Apple has slammed Spotify for wanting "all the benefits of a free app without being free".

The Cupertino, California-headquartered tech giant also alleged that Spotify was trying to squeeze the artistes, musicians and songwriters, not just the App Store.