Spotify has slipped out of the news cycle a little recently, something a green circle is likely pleased about after its 'new' app problems and controversy surrounding its rumored plans to make users pay for its as yet unreleased HiFi plan. It's back on front pages again – although this time for something that's going to affect around 0.68% of its audience.
Spotify hasn't offered in-app purchases on its app on Apple devices since 2016 after it refused to pay Apple's so-called 'Tax' on App Store purchases. There was a small period where users could get a Spotify subscription between June 2014 and May 2016, but now it looks like users who pay this way will have to find a new way to get their sub sorted.
No more Apple subscriptions for Spotify users
According to Apple, only 628 thousand of Spotify's 100 million subscribers used the Cupertino giants subscription option, and now that number is going to drop to 0%. Vanity Fair reported that users who subscribe through this method have received emails from Spotify that read, "We’re contacting you because when you joined Spotify Premium you used Apple’s billing service to subscribe. Unfortunately, we no longer accept that billing method as a form of payment."
Apple Music is the next best thing for users that want to continue to subscribe through Apple subscriptions – and to some users, it provides a much better experience. For around the same amount every month, you get access to Apple's library of hi-res audio, something that Spotify is still yet to release – and when it does, it's likely to come at a premium on top of your normal subscription cost.
Spotify has taken Apple to court over its App Store 'taxes' in the past, and this is just the last in a long list of different fights that Apple and Spotify have had.
