In March 2019, Spotify took the bold step of File a lawsuit against Apple to the European Commission for anti-competitive behavior and abuse of a dominant position in the music streaming market. For years, Apple has consistently tilted the playing field in favor of its own services to penalize competitors, stifle innovation, and make makes it harder for companies like Spotify to compete.
But not only Spotify is affected.
Almost every consumer today owns a smartphone and uses it as the primary means of accessing services on the Internet, which means Everyone is affected and endangers the Internet economy.
Fast forward to today, and the European Commission, while building its own strong case against Apple over the past few years, still hasn’t closed the case. This is particularly problematic as we’ve seen Apple attempt to circumvent or directly defy regulations in other markets around the world to avoid making significant changes to their behavior.
That’s why Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, along with Dustee Jenkins, Global Head of Public Affairs, Eve Konstan, General Counsel, and others from our team traveled to Brussels, home of the, earlier this month for a full day of meetings and events Commission . This has included key commissioners asking for a robust decision against Apple to be made as soon as possible because the internet moves fast and every day that goes by without action erodes companies’ ability to innovate in the interests of consumers – not only in Europe, but all over the world. Remedial actions must be collected to have an impact. Otherwise, Apple will have no real incentive to change.
But the Apple case wasn’t the only topic on our agenda. We shared our thoughts on the remarkable work the Commission has done to advance Europe’s digital economy and the leadership it has shown with the recent landmark technical regulations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). take over. While we applaud these efforts, we don’t specifically see the DMA as a replacement for the case we filed in 2019. Instead, we see them as a much-needed addition and believe that a choice, in our case, is still key to ensuring meaningful and lasting change.
We also spent time with students at Vlerick Business School, where Daniel spoke about leadership, the importance of healthy debate, the challenges of continuous innovation, and Spotify’s relentless focus on speed and building culture and resilience. He also spoke about his desire to unlock Europe’s entrepreneurial potential and the role of business in promoting meaningful solutions to some of society’s biggest problems. And realizing this is only possible if there is a level playing field.
The day ended with a Spotify-hosted reception featuring a fireside chat with Daniel, hosted by acclaimed Brussels commentator Shada Islam, and a musical performance by the award-winning Belgian singer-songwriter and RADAR artist Meskerem Mees. During the call, Daniel reiterated the importance of keeping fair competition high on the Commission’s agenda given the billions of developers and consumers at the mercy of gatekeeper platforms like Apple.
Fair and open platforms enable better consumer experiences and enable developers to innovate, grow and thrive. Spotify believes we have a duty to ensure that we help pave paths to success for start-ups out there who are just looking for a chance. That is why we will continue to deal with these issues and work towards an ecosystem in which fair competition is not only encouraged but guaranteed.
To learn more, please visit TimeToPlayFair.com
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