Some Spotify members will lose access to their premium subscriptions as part of the latest escalation in the company’s long-running feud with Apple.
The music streaming service has started informing customers that it is permanently cutting off payments through Apple’s App Store.
Spotify originally stopped customers from paying via in-app purchases on their iPhones back in 2016, but it’s now ditching the method altogether.
The company is informing affected subscribers of the change in an email, reports Variety. As a result, impacted customers will be switched over to Spotify’s free service that includes ad breaks.
They will only be able to re-subscribe to the premium version once their final billing period has ended, and they have been moved to a free account. This will need to be done online using an accepted form of payment, such as a credit card or PayPal.
“We’re contacting you because when you joined Spotify Premium you used Apple’s billing service to subscribe,” Spotify states in the email. “Unfortunately, we no longer accept that billing method as a form of payment.”
A Spotify spokesperson confirmed that it recently began notifying “a small number of users that a legacy payment method, that their Premium account is attached to, is being deprecated.
“These actions will help ensure that we can continue to provide a consistent best-in-class subscription experience for all our users.”
The move to end the billing method is the latest chapter in the grueling battle between the two firms. In a nutshell, Spotify has refused to cough up the 30% fee Apple charges for in-app transactions.
In 2019, the company filed an antitrust complaint with the EU accusing Apple of taking an unfair cut of its subscription fees. The charges have put Apple on a collision course with European lawmakers that could see it slapped with fines of as much as 10% of its annual sales.
This isn’t the first time iPhone owners have been caught in the crossfire between the warring firms. Last October, Spotify pulled audiobooks from its iOS app just one month after adding them due to its unwillingness to pay Apple’s tax.
