EK TAKES AIM AT APPLE IN THE U.K.

While in the U.K. to lobby ministers about the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told the Financial Times that Apple and Google are stymying Spotify’s ability to compete.

“I find it insane that two companies essentially control how over 4b consumers access the internet around the world. Not only are they dictating the rules, they also compete directly downstream with those providers,” Ek said in the FT.

The DMCC bill has the potential to create new rules that would level the playing field among large, established tech companies and smaller startups. Competition authorities would be allowed to set conduct requirements to address market power. “The U.K. can be nimble right now and show leadership,” Ek said.

Ek is also pushing EU lawmakers to enact similar legislation (the Digital Markets Act) and has urged the passage of the Open App Markets Act in the U.S.

His chief complaint about Apple is its dominant App Store: “If you want to be the referee you can’t also be the player,” he said.

“Imagine that this was a mall and literally half of the U.K. population is in this mall,” he said. “That’s where it becomes anti-competitive... More and more of these developers are now finding that Apple is a competitor.”