Spotify steps up antitrust war over Apple One bundling

Sweden's global number one music streamer Spotify is urging EU competition authorities to probe Apple's One bundled subscription services as it steps up its antitrust criticisms of the US tech titan.

"Once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favoring its own services," said Spotify in a statement.

"We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple's anti-competitive behavior, which if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect," the firm added in a Tuesday statement.

Spotify has already been involved in two other competition face-offs with Apple surrounding the latter's Apple Store and Apple Pay.

The Swedish company says that a low-priced bundle including music streaming from Apple Music, a key rival, skews the market.

Spotify is by a distance the global leader in music streaming, with 299 million users according to latest data from June -- including 138 million subscription holders -- and sales of 1.89 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

The Swedish firm, founded in 2006, is a rare European leader in a tech field, having been able to go toe to toe with US giants such as Apple Music and Amazon Music, both of whom have less than half as many subscribers.

Quoted on the New York Stock Exchange since 2018, Spotify enjoys a current valuation of some $44 billion. Yet it has been losing money after making substantial investments in new markets while developing services notably for podcasts.

Apple is already involved in a legal wrangle with US video game and software developer Epic Games, which is trying to convince a California court to reinstate its Fortnite game on the Apple App Store pending legal proceedings.

Epic's gambit comes amid a battle over whether Apple's tight control over the App Store, and its 30 percent cut of revenue, is monopolistic.

Apple pulled Fortnite from its online mobile apps marketplace on August 13 after Epic released an update that dodges revenue sharing with the iPhone maker.

Although Spotify applauded Epic's decision, last month a US court rejected Epic's bid to have Fortnite reinstated on the App Store, saying its eviction by Apple was a "self-inflicted wound."

Amazon cranks up its music service with podcasts
San Francisco (AFP) Sept 16, 2020 - Amazon on Wednesday added podcasts to its streaming music service, tapping into a trend and taking on rivals including Spotify and Apple.

Amazon Music added hit podcasts such as RadioLab and promised a line-up of original shows from radio host DJ Khaled, actor Will Smith and others.

The podcasts are included in Amazon's streaming service in the US, Britain, Germany and Japan.

"Our customers' listening habits are constantly evolving, and we know they're looking to us to provide them with a rich experience rooted in music and entertainment," said Amazon Music vice president Steve Boom.

Amazon Music subscribers can listen to the service at its website, through smartphone apps, or on Echo smart speakers sold by the Seattle-based company.

A survey on podcast consumption this year showed that 37 percent of US adults had listened to a podcast within the previous month, a figure which has more than tripled over the past decade, market tracker Statista reported in June.

Weekly consumption of podcasts has also jumped, with some of the world's top publishers seeing millions or streams and downloads monthly, Statista concluded.

A follow up survey in the US found that 10 percent of younger listeners, ages 18 to 34, said they believe people should pay for podcasts and they should be ad-free, according to Statista.

"We're thrilled to offer customers a convenient podcast listening experience that fits their lifestyle," said Amazon Music podcasts director Kintan Brahmbhatt.

Productions coming to Amazon Music include a new multi-media podcast from musician Rebbeca Gomez, known as "Becky G," exploring issues and trends, with each episode devoted to nonprofit organization.

"In quarantine, with so much time to consider the world around us, it felt like the perfect opportunity to open a new line of communication and pay it forward," Gomez said.

Shares in Spotify, which features podcasts at its streaming music service, slid some three percent in trading on the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of the Amazon Music news.

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