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Tag: deezer

  • Spotify urges the EU to reign in Apple’s App Store monopoly

    Spotify urges the EU to reign in Apple’s App Store monopoly

    As many of you probably know, there’s always heated competition between tech companies. And sometimes, a company is bigger than another… in one way or another. Battles between competitors are not a rarity in the tech world. One such battle has been undertaken by Spotify, which is, let’s say, unhappy with Apple Music and has taken it to file an antitrust case against Cupertino. And now, 9to5Mac reports things are getting a little heated.

    Basically, Spotify is alleging Apple is competing with it via Apple Music in an unfair manner. Spotify is stating that Apple can offer subscriptions within Apple Music with no penalty, but Spotify needs to pay 30% to Apple for doing the same (or 15% from year two).

    Back in 2019, Spotify filed an antitrust complaint against Cupertino in Europe. Since then, the European Commission has reached a preliminary conclusion siding with Spotify but a final decision has not been reached yet.Now, Spotify has sent an open letter (backed by 7 other companies) to the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager. The companies that backed the music-streaming platforms represent digital organizations for audio streaming, web software, communications, publishing, and marketplaces.

    Here’s the list of the companies that signed the open letter:

    • Basecamp
    • Deezer
    • Proton
    • Schibsted
    • Spotify
    • European Publishers Council
    • France Digitale
    • News Media Europ

    Read the full open letter here.

    In the letter, the companies request “swift and decisive action” to be taken from the European Commission against “anti-competitive and unfair practices by certain global digital gatekeepers” – namely Apple. The letter goes on to indicate that Apple has been imposing unfair restrictions on businesses. Additionally, the letter states those alleged anti-competitive practices are harming innovation, European consumers, and the development of apps and services.

    The letter also underlines that a decision has to be reached quickly, as “every day that passes is a loss for innovation and for the welfare of European consumers.”

    In the fall of last year, Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force, after being adopted in the summer. The DMA is addressing App Store monopoly, third-party app payments, and cross-OS support for iMessage. Spotify’s letter signifies that enforcement of the new legislation is needed against Apple and underlines that any attempts to circumvent the new legislation by “misleading and vague grounds of privacy and security” should be resisted.
    All in all, the letter urges the European Commission to make a decision on the case against Apple. It will be interesting to see whether or not the EC accelerates its decision making and what results from this battle.
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  • Fitbit drops support for two music streaming services on Sense and Versa smartwatches

    Fitbit drops support for two music streaming services on Sense and Versa smartwatches

    Google-owned Fitbit is informing many of its customers that it will soon stop supporting two music streaming services quite popular in the United States: Deezer and Pandora. In an email sent to many Fitbit smartwatch users, the company states that it will ax support for the two apps, which will no longer be available for download.

    The email confirms that come March 31, these two music streaming services will no longer function on specific smartwatches like Fitbit Sense, Fitbit Versa 2 and Fitbit Versa 3. According to the email, customers “will no longer be able to download Pandora stations or add Deezer playlists to your device, nor will you be able to play anything that you have previously downloaded.”

    This is the second time Fitbit has taken away an important functionality from its customers in less than a year. Last year, Fitbit removed the ability to sync and transfer music via PC and Mac. The company removed the option to transfer playlists to Fitbit watches through a computer back in October but allowed users to continue to play personal music stored on the watch and transfer music to it with the Deezer and Pandora apps.

    Well, Fitbit took away that option as well, or at least is about to since the deadline is March 31, 2023. It’s surprising that the company is removing important features that will most likely lead to fewer sales, without adding new ones to replace them. It’s like Fitbit wants to make its smartwatches completely unappealing to those who love using this type of products.

    It remains to be seen how Fitbit’s actions will impact the sale of its smartwatches, but there’s bound to be some retribution from customers, especially from those who remained loyal even after Google bought the company Google.

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