The European Union has fined Apple EUR €1.8 billion (USD $1.95 billion) over the “anti-steering policies” it enforced in its Apple App Store, effectively handing Spotify – and other app developers – a major victory in a long-running dispute.
In a decision published on Monday (March 4), the European Commission (EC) declared that Apple – which operates Apple Music, a competitor to Spotify in the music streaming space – had “abus[ed] its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users,” by forbidding app developers “from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app.”
The EC said that Apple’s anti-steering policy violated Article 102(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
