Daniel Ek may have emerged triumphant from his five-year battle with Apple, but you wouldn’t notice it from the Spotify founder’s somber demeanor.
The European Commission fined Apple $1.84 billion on Monday for abusing its dominant position in music streaming apps.
However, judging by the tech giant’s recent anti-competitive behavior, Ek believes that the world’s second most valuable company has no intention of giving up its walled garden: the iOS ecosystem with its flagship App Store that has minted billions of annual profits.
“The Internet is at risk,” Ek said in a video statement he posted Monday, giving the impression of someone who lost the case, not won it. “Apple decided they wanted to shut down the Internet and make it their own.”
THE @EU_Commission finally spoke out against Apple today. Many of you have asked me for my opinion on what this means and what will change – and what will not change. I made a video with my thoughts, explaining why this is a good first step, but also why there is still more to do. pic.twitter.com/pdICn2Jq6S
— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) March 4, 2024
Spotify’s CEO predicted that Apple will ignore the ruling, just as it has done in similar cases in Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands, or comply in letter but not in spirit.
That’s because Apple knows that most people who access the Internet do so through apps downloaded to smartphones, a revenue opportunity it doesn’t want to miss. (Apple doesn’t publish data on its share of App Store revenue, only aggregate figures paid to developers.)
“While today may seem like a big victory, it may actually just be a small step in the right direction,” Ek said.
Fortune has reached out to Apple for a response to the Spotify boss’ comments.
Ek’s video message comes after EU Vice President Margrethe Vestager said Apple’s refusal to inform consumers about cheaper options amounts to anti-steering provisions that violate European antitrust law.
“Apple’s conduct, spanning nearly 10 years, may have resulted in many iOS users paying significantly higher prices for music streaming subscriptions, due to the high commission Apple imposed on developers and passed on to consumers,” he said. stated the Commission.
The EU failed to demonstrate damage, Apple counters
Apple countered on Monday by claiming that Brussels imposed the fine despite “a failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm.”
Ek’s company was actually the truly dominant player, according to Apple, controlling more than half of the European streaming market.
It enjoys this position largely thanks to the App Store, Apple said, as its share is higher on iOS than on Android. For this benefit, the Swedish company pays nothing to Apple.
Instead, Spotify lobbied hard against it, meeting more than 65 times with the Commission during the investigation, hoping to use Apple’s proprietary tools, technologies and distribution system without additional costs.
“Free is not enough for Spotify,” Apple responded. “They also want to rewrite the rules of the App Store, in a way that benefits them even more.”