Spotify will lower your subscription cost if you bypass the App Store

Now that Apple has entered the music streaming business, Spotify is ramping up its aggressiveness on iOS. Since all purchases made through the App Store have a 30% cut that goes to Apple, Spotify is urging iOS users to switch to the web-based version of its service to bypass this cut. In exchange, Spotify will lower the subscription cost. 

In an effort to bypass Apple’s 30 percent cut of all App Store purchases, and in the wake of the launch of Apple Music, Spotify has begun emailing customers who subscribed through their iOS to convert their subscription to a Web-based one and save $3 per month. Spotify charges Premium subscribers through iOS $12.99 per month because of Apple’s 30 percent fee on all purchases, including ongoing subscription. But customers who sign up through the company’s website pay just $9.99 per month. At $12.99 per month, Spotify subscribers on iOS are paying more than they would for Apple’s competing Apple Music, which is priced at $9.99. That’s likely a major reason why Spotify began emailing subscribers this week, telling them to convert their subscriptions and save money. The emails were first noted by The Verge. Earlier this year, an unnamed source allegedly from Spotify expressed frustration over Apple’s cut of App Store sales, asserting that the 30 percent fees would prevent the service from competing with the then-forthcoming Apple Music.