Senator Al Franken Calls On FTC To Investigate Apple Music

|
, , , ,

Senator Al Franken is calling on the FTC and the DOJ to investigate Apple Music for anticompetive behavior. The FTC already has a reported investigation into Apple’s 30% sign up fee for subscription services through the iTunes App Store, the FTC will not comment. Apple is also under the DOJ microscope after its negotiating tactics that said they would end Spotify and their free tier option. Here’s a bit of what Franken had to say about the matter.

“As the digital music industry continues to evolve, we must ensure that this relatively new market allows for meaningful competition and that consumers have access to important information about the products and services available to them,” Franken wrote to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.
“While I am encouraged to see increased competition in this market,” he continued, “I am concerned about certain business practices that have the potential to limit choices and raise prices for customers.”

“Increased competition in the music streaming market should mean that consumers will ultimately benefit through more choices of better products and at lower prices,” Franken said. “I am concerned, however, that Apple’s position as a dominant platform operator may actually undermine many of the potential customer benefits of its entry into the market.”

Franken takes exception to the 30% Apple fee which means new users who sign up for services like Spotify or Pandora through the App Store pay an extra 30%. An example would be Google Play Music which is $9.99 but would be $12.99 through the App Store.

What do you think of Senator Franken’s call for investigation? What do you think of Apple’s third party 30% fee? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.

[button link=”http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2488320,00.asp” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: PC Mag[/button]

feature image courtesy Mashable

Last Updated on November 27, 2018.

Previous

Two CM12 Themes You Must Buy, Because They’re Ours

iOS 9 Public Beta 2 Now Available

Next

Comments are closed.

Latest Articles

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap