The product has been “enthusiastically embraced” by users stateside, Spotify’s global director of competition policy, Avery Gardiner, said at a Brussels event this week.
Gardiner explained that Spotify cannot directly tell its European users how to buy goods like Audiobooks under the current conditions of its contract with Apple. On the other hand, pursuing an alternative contract would not be economically viable, she added.
“If you can’t tell people how much stuff costs or where to buy it, they don’t buy very much of it,” Gardiner observed, contrasting the situation in Europe with that in the U.S.
“The U.S. government has taken decisive action,” she said. “Unfortunately, in Europe, the same cannot be said — the Digital Markets Act has yet to deliver the same results for consumers in Europe.”
The Commission has been scrutinizing Apple’s proposal to reform its app store practices, which came as a direct response to the DMA. If the Commission finds the changes insufficient, Apple could face substantial daily fines in addition to the €500 million penalty it received in April.
Gardiner says Spotify is keen to bring the new app version to Europe.