Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

US Senators, Tech CEOs, and More Make Their Voices Heard in Our Fight for Fair Competition on the Latest For the Record' Podcast

15/12/2022

Over the past few years, it's become abundantly clear that Apple tilts the playing field. It does this in favor of its own services in order to disadvantage rivals and make it harder for companies like Spotify-and so many others-to compete. This behavior harms consumers and app developers-and it stifles innovation from companies just trying to get off the ground.

This is about much more than just Spotify, which is why we have publicly advocated for platform fairness and pushed for expanded payment options, among other things, for a number of years. We are committed to fighting for fair competition, which, in turn, will unleash innovation as well as choice for consumers.

Today, we released a special episode of Spotify: For the Record featuring a chorus of voices who are as passionately focused as we are on creating a level playing field for all. Tune in to hear from our CEO, Daniel Ek; U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut); Agrin Health CEO Karen Thomas; Fanfix CEO Harry Gestetner; Schibsted CEO Kristin Skogen Lund; and ProtonMail CEO Andy Yen as they express their concerns about the impact of Apple's unfair App Store rules on consumers and innovators alike and discuss the need for action.

Take a glimpse at what each of them had to say.

Our view is quite simple. We think that there needs to be regulation in this space. We think it is one where it has to make it clear that you as a developer or a company should be able to interact with your consumers. You should have the ability to bring new innovations to the market on equal terms as the platforms themselves, and that there should be a choice for how these consumers should be able to pay for goods and services on these platforms. And that can't be dictated by Apple. Daniel Ek, CEO, Spotify

The news that Apple plans to let rival app stores operate on iPhones in Europe shows that the arguments against our bill were simply scare tactics designed to stop it, and that's why we must pass it. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar

At the end of the day, what I would ask Tim Cook is to please support my bill. If you're not doing any of these bad things, why not support the bill? If you're in favor of competition and innovation, support the bill. If you believe that there's no unfair charges, or rents, or whatever-no copy and kill. Support the bill. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal

It doesn't matter if you're Democrat, or Republican, or another party affiliation, app developers and innovators are saying we have an issue with market access and there is a way to solve this problem. U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn

I think we have to re-envision what an app store is and the boundaries and the barriers that they put up in terms of gatekeepers . . . Status quo isn't even an option anymore. We're at a fork in the road. So either we pass this legislation and we send a signal to Apple and Google to say that monopoly won't work-you're going to have to behave better and participate in a free market-or we don't. Karen Thomas, CEO, Agrin Health

I do think the majority of Gen Z is probably pretty unaware, but it's going to take things like this and small businesses speaking out, creators speaking out, waking consumers up to the fact that this is going on and this is impacting their daily lives. Harry Gestetner, co-CEO, Fanfix

Probably almost the worst issue is that Apple blocks us from having access to data about our own customers. So that means we don't know what kind of subscriptions our customers have bought via the Apple system. It means that we will either lose our business altogether or we will have very unhappy customers. Kristin Skogen Lund, CEO, Schibsted

The lack of people speaking up isn't because there is no problem. The lack of people speaking up is actually a sign of the problem because people are so afraid that they're just afraid to even say anything. And if that is the state of the Internet today, then I think that's a terrible place for the world to be. Andy Yen, CEO, ProtonMail

And they're all coming together with more than any single company at stake: I'm fighting not because of just Spotify, but because I truly, at the core of my being, believe this is right, Daniel Ek noted in the episode. And it's very important for the future of the economy and for app developers and creators alike.

We know that fair and open platforms enable better consumer experiences and allow developers to grow and thrive. When this happens, everybody wins.

Hear for yourself in the episode below.

Access the full episode transcript here.
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2022-12-15/us-senators-tech-ceos-and-more...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

21/08/2026

FOX Sports Rolls Out Its Most Ambitious Live Motorsports Production' Ever at IndyCar Freedom 250 GP in DC

A massive deployment of specialty cameras, graphics, and AR will showcase the na...

21/08/2026

Creative Studio Zookeeper Embraces Pinball Motif for West Coast Conference PSA

The West Coast Conference unveiled its new 30-second public service announcement, the latest expression of the Conference's We Rise in the West brand iden...

21/08/2026

ESPN Soft-Launches a New NFL Graphics Package, Scorebug During Thursday Night's Raiders-Texans Preseason Game

New look will serve as the foundation for ESPN's upcoming NFL season and Sup...

21/08/2026

ESPN to Debut Little League Alumni Alt-Cast for 2026 MLB Little League Classic

ESPN will air the ninth annual MLB Little League Classic presented by New York Life on Sunday, August 23, at 7 p.m. ET from Historic Bowman Field in Williamspor...

21/08/2026

His Story Becomes Part of Football History': Dean Grossman Honors His Father Sandy With Pete Rozelle Award Speech

In an emotional acceptance speech in Canton, Grossman celebrated the pioneering ...

21/08/2026

Rapid Flow release miniGRID

Hardware-style timing shifts for software instruments Following on from the release of Omniclock, Rapid Flow have launched a new sequencer plug-in that can ...

21/08/2026

Love Synthesizers announce First Love pre-orders

Highly anticipated synthesizer ships in October 2026 Iceland-based Love Synthesizers have announced that their highly anticipated synthesizer is now availab...

21/08/2026

The Forsytes' Adds Gregg Sulkin & Gabriel Antunes As PBS Masterpiece Series Starts Filming Season 3

Masterpiece PBS The Forsytes has expanded its cast as its begins production in ...

21/08/2026

BBC reveals haunting first look and further casting for The Witch Farm

The BBC has unveiled first-look pictures from The Witch Farm, a new ghost story and mystery set in the Welsh countryside, coming soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One...

21/08/2026

A first look at Edward Bluemel as Hercule Poirot.

The BBC and BritBox have revealed the first look of Edward Bluemel as Hercule Poirot in the forthcoming six-part series Hercule from Mammoth Screen and Agatha C...

21/08/2026

Inside Euphoria's Editorial Heart: Aaron I. Butler, ACE on craft, collaboration and controlled madness

Our priority was making the best, most powerful, most meaningful story possible,...

21/08/2026

Clear-Com Appoints Venuetech as its Main Partner for the Middle East

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

21/08/2026

Techex Names Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Avid Brings Agentic Media Production to IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Avid brings agentic media production to IBC2026

Avid will unveil how it is transforming production to help media organizations unite content, agentic workflows, and business insights at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterda...

21/08/2026

Grass Valley Connects SDI IP and Software as One Unified...

New routing, modular processing, orchestration and monitoring capabilities bridge dedicated hardware and software-based processing as part of the Dynamic Media ...

21/08/2026

Indiana Pacers Selects DAZN As Exclusive Streaming Partner

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Chyron To Showcase Newsroom Advancements At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Broadpeak to Launch Multiview as a Service at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

University of Maryland Deploys Sony FX30 Cameras

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Study: FAST Sports Programming Surges

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Spectrum SportsNet LA Launches in Former Cox Markets

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

ESPN Airs Its Most-Watched WNBA Game

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/08/2026

Wisycom Wireless and DPA Microphones Support Pope Leo XIV...

When hundreds of thousands of people gather to hear a single voice, there is no room for compromise. Every word must be delivered clearly, every wireless transm...

21/08/2026

Telestream and ScorePlay Turn Live Sports into Immediate...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced a strategic partnership with ScorePlay, the AI-powered media infrastructure that spo...

21/08/2026

NUGEN Audio Launches New Post and Producer Subscription P...

NUGEN Audio announces the launch of its new Post Plan and Producer Plan, two flexible subscription offerings designed to give audio professionals short term acc...

21/08/2026

Join the Screen Currency 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) Online

Join the Screen Currency 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) Online 20 August 2026 (L-R): Adrian Coates, Grainne Brunsdon, Deirdre Brennan, Rachael Perkins Got questio...

21/08/2026

Take five with Sophie

Tell us a little bit about your job I'm a Marketing Manager and work across a mix of clients and projects. No two days are ever quite the same, which defini...

21/08/2026

Irish Lottery heist documentary to air on RT

Beat The Lotto dives into the plot behind the 1980s National Lottery scandal 24 August 2026 at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player Beat The Lotto is the story o...

21/08/2026

The Late Late Toy Show kicks off search for this year's stars

The countdown to the most wonderful night of the year has officially begun! Host Patrick Kielty is gearing up for another unforgettable Late Late Toy Show nig...

21/08/2026

New children's series Bellie and Whizz at Big School set to air on RT KIDSjr & RT Player from Monday, 24th August

Meet puppet duo Bellie and Whizz, who are about to explore all the big feelings ...

20/08/2026

NEP's Summer of Soccer Didn't End at World Cup: 1,100+ Domestic Productions Follow the Final

From host-broadcaster and rightsholder support in June and July to MLS, NWSL, US...

20/08/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 27: San Jose Sharks' Emily Garner - Production Tales From the Shark Tank

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: Veritone To Showcase Enterprise AI and Media Supply Chain Automation

At IBC this year, Veritone (14.A56) is bringing two connected themes to the booth: architectural independence in enterprise AI, and the automation of the media ...

20/08/2026

Telestream and ScorePlay Partner to Connect Live Sports Ingest with Media Management

Telestream and ScorePlay have announced a partnership combining Telestream's...

20/08/2026

Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League Sign Multi-Year Deal with ESPN

The Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League have announced a three-year agreement with ESPN, bringing more than 300 hours of live curling coverage to U.S. audienc...

20/08/2026

Nielsen Announces Measurement Enhancements Ahead of Fall TV Season

Nielsen has announced a series of enhancements to its Big Data + Panel currency measurement methodology, taking effect August 31. The updates were developed in ...

20/08/2026

ORF Deploys Net Insight Nimbra Platform for Nationwide IP Contribution Network

Net Insight has been selected by service provider Big Blue Marble (formerly ORS Group) to provide its Nimbra platform as the core media transport solution for a...

20/08/2026

2026 US Open Launches Fan Activations Across New York City

The 2026 US Open will bring a series of free fan activations across New York City ahead of and during the tournament, which runs August 23-September 13. We...

20/08/2026

Bridge Technologies Adds TS Playout to VB330 and VB220 Monitoring Probes

Bridge Technologies will announce a transport stream (TS) playout feature for its VB330 and VB220 compressed monitoring probes at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71). The fe...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: ENCO To Showcase AI and Automation Solutions

ENCO will demonstrate solutions across captioning, translation, AI production tools, automation, and virtual production at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A34, Amsterdam RAI, ...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: MultiDyne MRMC To Exhibit for First Time as Part of MultiDyne Organization

MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will demonstrate camera robotics and mot...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: Chyron Showcases Newsroom Workflow Solutions

Chyron will demonstrate news workflow solutions at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A23), marking the company's 60th anniversary. Highlights include updates to PRIME HTML, ...

20/08/2026

Spectrum SportsNet LA Now Available to Customers in Former Cox Markets

Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets following the clos...

20/08/2026

IBC 2026: swXtch.io Launches Expanded SRT Distribution and Native Multicast Services

swXtch.io will unveil expanded Global SRT Distribution and native multicast tran...

20/08/2026

Transformation Church Deploys Riedel Artist Intercom System

Riedel Communications has announced that Transformation Church in the United States has deployed a communications system built around the Artist intercom ecosys...

20/08/2026

Apple at 50: Author and CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent David Pogue on How a Tech Giant Became a Media Powerhouse

The bestselling author and longtime Apple observer explores how product launches...