Business

Apple to Spotify: Get over it

Apple lashed back on Friday against Spotify after the Swedish music streamer this week blasted the iPhone maker for what it called “anti-competitive” behavior.

Spotify sent a letter to Apple — and also distributed copies to congressional staff in Washington — complaining that Apple had blocked a new version of the Spotify’s iOS app for iPhones.

Spotify claimed in the letter that Apple, headed by Chief Executive Tim Cook, was retaliating after Spotify encouraged its new customers to sign up outside the iTunes billing system, which charges a 30 percent commission.

On Friday, Apple legal chief Bruce Sewell said the tech giant deserves its cut of App Store subscriptions and that it was treating Spotify like any other app, in keeping with antitrust laws.

“We understand that you want special treatment and protections from competition, but we simply will not do that because we firmly adhere to the principle of treating all developers fairly and equitably,” Sewell wrote in the letter, first obtained by Reuters.

In late May, Spotify submitted a version of its app that removed the in-app purchase feature, which triggers Apple’s cut, and included an account sign-up feature that violates Apple’s rules, Sewell wrote. Apple rejected the app and asked Spotify to re-submit it. The new version had the same problems, Sewell said.

Spotify claimed Apple’s rejection raised “serious concerns.”