Spotify and Apple have had a long history of disputes and tensions, particularly when it comes to Apple’s App Store policies. For the past seven years, Spotify has prohibited users from signing up for its Premium subscription through the Apple App Store.
According to a report by Variety, Spotify will now no longer allow customers who previously subscribed to its streaming music service through the App Store to continue paying using Apple’s platform. The audio streaming platform has started sending emails to users paying through an App Store subscription, informing them that they will need to change their payment method.
Spotify, in a recent email, notified its subscribers, “We’re contacting you because when you joined Spotify Premium, you used Apple’s billing service to subscribe. Unfortunately, we no longer accept that billing method as a form of payment.” The email states that at the end of the billing period, their account will automatically switch to the Free, ad-supported service. If users wish to keep their Premium subscription, they will need to re-subscribe after their last billing period has ended and their account has been moved to the Free account. Users will need to pay via one of Spotify’s accepted payment methods, which include credit cards and PayPal, to start a new subscription.
A Spotify executive stated that the company has started notifying a small number of users that a legacy payment method attached to their Premium account is being deprecated. Users who receive these notifications will automatically be moved to a Free account from their next billing cycle. They will then have the option to upgrade to a Premium account by logging into their account at Spotify.com.
Spotify’s decision to change its payment method is aimed at providing a consistent and best-in-class subscription experience for all its users.
Spotify has had an ongoing feud with Apple in the past, accusing the tech giant of anti-competitive behavior by favoring its own music streaming app, Apple Music, over Spotify in the App Store. In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission, claiming that Apple’s App Store rules violated EU competition laws. Apple, in response, mentioned that it collected a 15% fee on subscription payments for only 680,000 of Spotify’s over 100 million Premium subscribers.
Spotify has also raised concerns about Google’s Play Store policies, which also take a percentage fee of purchases. However, last year, Spotify and Google reached a multiyear agreement that allows Spotify users running Android operating systems to choose between Spotify’s payment system or Google Play Billing.
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