It’s a tricky one.Why Apple should say yes: Spotify is one of the hottest startups to come out of Europe. Launched in October 2008 by Swedish founder Daniel Ek, it has already lured two million members. Apple would be foolish to turn down that kind of customer base. Spotify has also taken the clever step of drumming up PR for its app before it has even been approved by Apple. Spotify’s Ek is brimming with confidence, saying he “absolutely expects Apple to approve the app in the next few weeks”. If Apple knocks Spotify back now, it would look anti-competitive. And it would probably get bags of complaint letters from miserable Spotify fans in the process.
Why Apple should say no: Will the Spotify model even work on an iPhone? The whole attraction of Spotify is it allows people to stream music through the internet FOR FREE. Spotify wants to charge £9.99 a month for its iPhone app. That’s £120 a year – double the amount spent by the average music buyer. And if it does work, Apple’s iTunes music download business will be in trouble. Since it was introduced in 2003, eight billion songs have been downloaded from the iTunes store worldwide. It has become a multi-million dollar business for Apple, so why set the dogs on it?
Do you think Spotify’s proposed iPhone app will get the nod? Let us know what you think by posting a comment below.
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