Apple responds to $2 billion fine in EU over abusing music streaming apps

The European Commission announced on Monday that Apple has been hit with an antitrust fine amounting to 1.8 billion euros, or $1.95 billion.

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According to reports from CNBC, one of the world's biggest tech companies has been hit with an antitrust fine amounting to nearly $2 billion for abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps. The publication states the Commission discovered Apple had put in place restrictions on app developers that stopped Apple product users from being informed about cheaper music-streaming apps, with the Commission going as far as to allege that Apple had prohibited developers of music-streaming apps from providing users with any instructions on how to sign up to these cheaper alternatives.

The resulting fine from the EU can be traced back to a complaint Spotify made in 2019, which resulted in an investigation being opened up by the European Commission. The investigation boiled down to the Commission diving through Apple's contractual agreements it forces on developers and how those agreements prevent developers from informing iOS users about cheaper, alternative music streaming services outside of the App Store, which would circumvent Apple's 30% fee for apps and in-app purchases.

The Commission writes that Apple "may have led many iOS users to pay significantly higher prices for music streaming subscriptions because of the high commission fee imposed by Apple on developers and passed on to consumers in the form of higher subscription prices for the same service on the Apple App Store."

Apple has since released a long press release responding to the fine, and the Cupertino company doesn't seem happy about the EU's decision.

"Spotify wants to bend the rules in their favor by embedding subscription prices in their app without using the App Store's In-App Purchase system. They want to use Apple's tools and technologies, distribute on the App Store, and benefit from the trust we've built with users - and to pay Apple nothing for it. In short, Spotify wants more," writes Apple