| Cult of Mac

Spotify files complaint against Apple’s ‘unfair’ App Store fees

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Spotify is adding 2x as many monthly subscribers as Apple Music
Spotify is adding 2x as many monthly subscribers as Apple Music
Photo: Spotify

Spotify has filed a legal complaint against Apple for what it believes is anti-competitive behavior.

The music streaming service, like many others, has an issue with the 30 percent cut Apple charges on App Store revenue. Spotify says Apple makes it very difficult to avoid the fee, which makes some services more expensive.

Unique keyboard app turns your boring messages into music

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The most melodious way to type.
Typing "LOL" and "WTF" has never been so melodious.
Photo: SoundKey

SoundKey is a clever keyboard app that plays instruments as you type to create melodies from your words.

Developed by two French students who wanted to incorporate music directly into people’s daily use of the iPhone, it’s an unusual twist on the custom iOS keyboards we’ve come to know and love.

Beats Music Gives Apple 30% Of The Pie For New iPhone Subscribers

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Screen Shot 2014-04-22 at 8.15.14 AM

Streaming media services that want to sell subscriptions to users of their apps on the iPhone or iPad have to make a deal with the proverbial devil: if they want to sign up customers on an iOS device, they have to give Apple a 30% cut of the sale.

For music subscription services like Rdio and Spotify, where the margins are razor thin, giving up that 30% cut is enough to turn a subscription from a profit to a break-even proposition. So when a company goes this route, it’s easy to assume they are hurting.

By this logic, Beats Music — the new subscription music service launched in January — is hurting.