Following a previous rejection by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), music streaming behemoth, Spotify Inc. (NYSE: SPOT), has announced that it will now display its pricing information on its app for Apple devices in the European Union.
What Happened: Spotify will update its iOS app on Wednesday to include the prices of its various plans and services. This development comes over three months after Apple initially rejected such an update, citing Spotify's non-compliance with Apple's Music Streaming Services Entitlement, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The Swedish audio streaming company has now agreed to these terms, but its updated app will not provide an external link for users to make purchases. Spotify is keen to avoid paying Apple a commission on these transactions.
In a statement, Spotify said, "While this is progress, it's only a small step in the long march towards giving iPhone consumers basic product experiences they expect and deserve in their apps."
Apple had eased the communication between music streaming apps and users on iOS devices in the EU in early April. This was a month after Brussels fined Apple 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for imposing restrictions on its App Store, thereby thwarting competition from music streaming rivals.
Why It Matters: This move by Spotify comes in the wake of a long-standing dispute between the two tech giants. In May, Apple was fined by the EU for undermining fair competition from music-streaming services like Spotify. The company was also mandated to stop preventing music-streaming apps from informing users about cheaper deals outside its App Store.
In June, Spotify expanded its services by adding video support for all platform podcasters, further intensifying the competition.
Despite these challenges, Spotify's second-quarter results showed promising signs of a turnaround, with the company reducing costs, improving margins, and growing subscribers. However, the company is still behind Apple and Amazon in terms of high-resolution audio offerings.