Spotify members have been unable to pay through Apple's App Store or Google Play for years, since the music streaming service has refused to pay the tech giants up to 30% of all payments processed through their platforms. Third-party billing systems are also prohibited in both app stores.
Spotify and Google have now achieved an agreement on this matter.
Users who download the Spotify Android app from the Google Play Store will be able to pay with either Spotify's payment system or Google Play Billing, according to the companies' announcement on Wednesday.
The two payment choices will be side-by-side in the app for the first time; previously, Google Play did not allow developers to allow their apps to accept direct payment. (At the moment, you must join up for Spotify and pay for it outside of the Android app.) Under the new agreement, Spotify will pay Google a cut of subscription fees for purchases made through Google's app store — a percentage less than 30%, but neither company would confirm the exact figure.
Spotify has publicly chastised Google and Apple's app shops for their policies. Customers still can't pay for Spotify through Apple's App Store. Spotify has sided with Epic Games, the creators of "Fortnite," in their legal battle against Apple's developer regulations. Epic was largely unsuccessful in an original verdict, which it has appealed.
Both Apple and Google collect 30% of first-year subscription fees under their standard policies; this is decreased to 15% in the second year of a subscription.
Spotify claimed in a blog post announcing the Google arrangement that the new agreement "will enable everyone the ability to subscribe and make purchases directly in the Spotify app, using the payment option of their choosing." Spotify said it will "continue to freely communicate with users about our Premium subscription service, promote discounts and promotions, and give listeners on our free tier the ability to convert to Premium, directly in the app," adding that it will "continue to communicate with users about our Premium subscription service, promote discounts and promotions, and give listeners on our free tier the ability to convert to Premium, directly in the app."
Spotify said it will construct the new experience with Google's product and engineering teams over the next months. The initial edition of "User Choice Billing" is expected to be released later this year, according to Google and Spotify.
Spotify has been working for years to guarantee that app developers have the freedom to innovate and compete on an equal footing, according to Alex Norström, the company's chief freemium business officer. "We're thrilled to be working with Google to investigate this payment option and its implications for developers, consumers, and the broader internet ecosystem." We hope that the work we'll be doing together will pave the way for the rest of the industry.
