
Spotify says Apple One bundle is a 'threat to collective freedom' - pier25
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/09/15/spotify-says-apple-one-bundle-is-a-threat-to-collective-freedom
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pier25
Spotify is being dramatic but it's true Apple is taking advantage of its
position on the AppStore.

Apple not only has a 30% advantage over Spotify in terms of final pricing, it
can also use the 30% it gets from Spotify to lower its prices even further.

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zepto
Only if you assume it costs nothing to develop and market the platform.

Apple One is a boring and unattractive bundle of services.

Spotify isn’t helping anyone here.

And Spotify is benevolent to nobody but themselves - they are responsible for
driving down artist royalties to line their own pockets.

There are good arguments about software freedom to be made, buy Spotify and
Epic aren’t making them.

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pier25
Both Spotify and Apple will have development and marketing costs.

I'm not arguing in favor of Spotify btw. I'm just saying if both services cost
$10 per month on iOS, on the same number of users Apple will get $10 + $3
(from Spotify's %30) and Spotify will get $7. So Apple can actually sell it
for $7 whereas Spotify can't. Obviously I'm over simplifying this.

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zepto
Sure but Spotify’s development costs only have to cover the upper levels of
the app whereas Apple is developing the system that both they _and_ Spotify
benefit from.

That’s why it’s not a like for like comparison.

Spotify can sell it for the same price as Apple, since they don’t have to fund
the extra investments.

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pier25
iOS dev is already paid by selling the hardware. The AppStore is also
profitable by itself.

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zepto
Is iOS dev paid for by the hardware? What makes you think that? It just sounds
like something you made up.

And what makes you think the App Store is profitable ‘by itself’?

These statements seem to indicate that the argument against Apple is just
about them making profit from what they do.

That’s exactly the argument Epic and Spotify are making - they want to take
some of the profit from what Apple does.

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pier25
Are you aware Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world?
Where do you think these profits come from?

~~~
zepto
Sale of products and services, of course.

It seems like the argument is that Apple is too profitable so it should be
targeted. That stream of profits is certainly is what Epic and Spotify are
trying to obtain through the courts.

Apple on the other hand, obtained that stream of profits by investing decades
of resources into developing their platforms. Platforms which Epic and Spotify
have not had to develop, and which they have befitted from.

