#EU#Music#Streaming#Subscriptions#Apple#Spotify: "According to the EC, however, Apple was guilty of "unfair trading conditions" that banned developers from advertising cheaper subscriptions available outside the App Store, informing users about available price differences, providing links to cheaper subscription options, or even emailing app users about cheaper options.
"Apple bans music streaming app developers from fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app and from providing any instructions about how to subscribe to such offers," the EC concluded.
The EC said that Apple's conduct may have led many users to pay more for music streaming subscriptions and could have caused non-monetary harms by degrading the user experience on music streaming apps.
An EC spokesperson told Ars that investigators "calculated that, in the European Economic Area, around 1.5 million subscribers to the main music streaming apps—other than Apple Music—on iPhones and iPads ended up paying 2–3 euros per month more as of July 2023 and throughout the entire duration of the subscription, compared to what they could have paid outside of the app. This was due to the in-app commissions imposed by Apple on developers, which were then passed on to consumers through higher subscription fees."
But the non-monetary harms were considered more significant. The EC said it imposed the approximately $1.95 billion fine after determining that a steep fine was the only way to deter Apple and other app stores from repeating these anti-competitive behaviors."
