Spotify could also have sold its audiobooks through the App Store's purchasing system, but Apple would then take a 30 percent cut - putting Spotify's audiobooks at a considerable disadvantage against Apple Books. 'We provided them with clear guidance on how to resolve the issue, and approved their app after they made changes that brought it into compliance,' an Apple spokesperson said. Spotify's audiobooks could have easily been accepted if the company had followed the App Store rules, Apple told The New York Times. ' harms not only consumers, but, this time, also authors and publishers who now find themselves under Apple’s thumb.' It's also highly inconvenient for buyers used to simply clicking on a link to buy an audiobook. To comply, it had to hide the price of the audiobooks and do sales outside of the main app via an email link.Īll of that makes it harder for Spotify to compete, as users can't easily compare prices. It said that Apple rejected its audiobook purchasing system three times due to a violation of its rules. Spotify launched its audiobook business just last month with 300,000 titles, but is now saying that Apple is engaging in 'anticompetitive' behavior that is impinging the new business, the company wrote in a blog post.

Apple audiobooks