Apple rejects Spotify's app update, Spotify calls approval process a 'weapon'

Apple has rejected an update to Spotify's iOS iPhone app, and Spotify is crying foul. 

In a letter sent to Apple's top lawyer on June 26 and obtained by Recode, Spotify general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said that Apple cited "business model rules" for turning down an update to its iOS app. But according to the site, Gutierrez considers the move anti-competitive, and used his letter to suggest that Apple was using its approval process to hurt competitors of Apple Music.

"This latest episode raises serious concerns under both U.S. and EU competition law," he wrote, according to Recode. "It continues a troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to Apple Music, particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple’s previous anticompetitive conduct aimed at Spotify … we cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors."

Apple's reason for rejecting the update seemed to stem from a promotion whereby new subscribers could sign up for Spotify for $0.99  if they signed up on Spotify's website. According to Recode, Spotify was attempting to promote the campaign inside the app when Apple threatened to remove the app from its store.  Read more...