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Comment by caruana | Hacker News Reader

As an Apple and Spotify customer I will quickly stop being an Apple customer if they try to control / influence Spotify. I use it all day at work and at home on my Sonos. I never knew that if challenged I would be more loyal to a music streaming company then my main hardware providing company, but, it would be a non negotiable issue for me.

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You're aware that this whole thing is caused by Spotify choosing to violate the terms which they've operated under for years, just to get attention?

As a customer, that is literally of no concern to me. I'm not taking a position on who is right or wrong. I don't care who did what and to who, the only thing that matters to me is how my service(s) are interrupted. As the customer, I will first choose the provider that I perceive as providing me with greater benefit and then remove any resistance to that provider services. Anything outside of the equation ultimately doesn't matter and therefore won't enter into my individual purchasing power.

I think you're right--Apple shouldn't control/influence Spotify. The issue here sounds different: Spotify has to play by the same rules as everyone else on the App Store, and Spotify seems not to like that.

No they don't! There's no reason Spotify can't pull their app, run an ad campaign, put pressure on Apple, negotiate a better deal, any number of other things. If Spotify thinks they can claw back part of the 30% apple tax, more power to them.

It's 15% not 30%.

What you're calling for is preferential treatment because they're an established player, which is quite humerous to me given how much HN loves "disrupters"

It is 30% for the first full year of the subscription, which is reduced to 15% after that year.

What's more likely, that people will give up their iPhones to use Spotify or that people will choose one of the other available streaming music services?

I agree. My issue is they're getting the Senate involved and going for regulatory capture, which in general isn't usually ideal for long term competition.

I share the sentiment. Apple has done enough stupid things already so that I considered switching away from it many times. Spotify for me is big enough to get me over the fence.

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