Spotify's battle with Apple is a classic example of a small company using strategy and public opinion to outsmart a tech giant. That's the story we're talking about today,
Spotify is a digital music streaming service founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek (former CTO of Stardoll), and Martin Lorentzon. There is no need to tell you about it. So, this company, which started small and gradually became popular among people, realized that it would be a big threat to it in the future, and in 2015, Apple took some very strict measures to remove Spotify from the market.
First, Spotify threatened to remove Spotify from the Apple App Store, saying it violated its terms with Apple. That was in 2015. Then, Apple demanded a 30% cut of Spotify's total subscription revenue. This was an attempt to make Spotify's pricing uncompetitive.
In addition to these two, Apple tried to reduce the user experience by blocking or delaying updates to the Spotify app.
So, you know what Spotify did in response to this? They first launched a public relations campaign to highlight Apple’s monopolistic behavior. They emphasized to people how Apple’s actions were anti-competitive and harmed innovation and consumers. This was somewhat successful.
Spotify then filed formal complaints with European Union regulators and antitrust authorities, accusing Apple of abusing its market position. This led to a wave of global investigations into Apple’s app store practices.
Spotify is also asking its users to subscribe outside the App Store to avoid the 30% fee. It is also offering discounts to encourage users to sign up through its website instead of Apple.
As a result of these actions, the European Union has launched a formal antitrust investigation into Apple and is investigating the 30% commission policy in the App Store worldwide. Not only that, but companies like Epic Games and Match Group are also joining the fight to pressure Apple to stop doing this.
Somehow Spotify is winning the battle. Not only is it winning, but it is also becoming the world's largest music app, surpassing even Apple App Store and YouTube Music. It has more than 30% of the world's music streaming market share. So, today, there are about 381 million users using Spotify worldwide. Of these, 172 million are premium users. Also, Spotify's net worth has reached $6.8 billion today.
This story highlights the power of strategic advocacy, public support, and innovation that Spotify used to confront injustice and become a global leader. And Spotify not only survived, but thrived, cementing its place as a leader in the global music streaming market.
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