Apple says Spotify's move to 'sue music creators' is a 'damaging step backwards for the music industry'

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  • Spotify's tough week continues.
  • Apple says Spotify's move to 'sue music creators' is a 'damaging step backwards for the music industry' image
  • The tension between Spotify and Apple continues to grow. Apple issued a statement today in response to Spotify's antitrust complaint against the tech giant with the European Commission, Music Business Worldwide reports. Earlier this week, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek called the "Apple tax"—the 30 percent fee on all purchases made through Apple's App Store—an unfair and "discriminatory" business practice. Apple's statement mostly glosses over this point and instead criticises the streaming service for attempting to appeal a pay rise for songwriters. (Amazon, Google and Pandora are also challenging the recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board to increase songwriters' US streaming royalties by 44 percent over five years.) Apple's statement begins with, "We share Spotify's love of music and their vision of sharing it with the world," before distancing itself. "Where we differ is how you achieve that goal. Underneath the rhetoric, Spotify's aim is to make more money off others' work. And it's not just the App Store that they're trying to squeeze—it's also artists, musicians and songwriters." Apple ends by directly commenting on the appeal: "Just this week, Spotify sued music creators after a decision by the US Copyright Royalty Board required Spotify to increase its royalty payments. This isn't just wrong, it represents a real, meaningful and damaging step backwards for the music industry." Read more / Spotify, Amazon, Google instigate legal battle to appeal songwriter pay rise Spotify files antitrust complaint against Apple with European Commission
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