By Jaspreet Singh
(Reuters) – A group representing audio streaming companies such as Spotify (NYSE:) and France's Deezer in Europe has urged the European Commission to reject Apple's (NASDAQ:) proposal in a music streaming case.
Digital Music Europe expressed concern in a letter sent to the European Commission on Tuesday over Apple's proposal to comply with the regulator's March order, in which the iPhone maker was fined 1.84 billion euros ($1.98 billion). ), does not provide concrete and effective remedies.
“Apple's new right to streaming music services is a discriminatory program that forces competitors to opt into a new regime run by Apple,” the letter adds.
Apple was fined by the EU in March for thwarting competition from rivals in music streaming through restrictions on its App Store.
The iPhone maker subsequently announced measures to make it easier for music streaming apps on its App Store in the European Economic Area to inform users about other ways to purchase digital services, in a bid to comply with a European Union mandate. .
Under Apple's proposal, streaming services can include links to their websites to inform users about payment options outside of its App Store and the company would charge a 27% commission on transactions made through a link. .
Apple said developers can also provide information about purchases available on its website to users via email.
The European Commission and companies represented by Digital Music Europe, including Deezer, Qobuz and SoundCloud, Jamendo and Soundcharts, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Spotify declined to comment.
Remove ads
.
Last month, Apple rejected Spotify's new version of the iOS app with in-app pricing information for users in the European Union, as the streaming company does not want to be part of Apple's proposal.
(1 dollar = 0.9310 euros)
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
