Spotify is removing App Store payment option for legacy subscribers
Existing Spotify subscribers who have been paying for the service through Apple’s App Store can no longer pay using this payment method. The users paying through that mechanism will be moved to a free account at the end of their current billing cycle. They will then have to purchase a paid plan through the website.
Variety, which first spotted the change, noted that the music streaming company recently started emailing users using the App Store as their payment method. Spotify confirmed this move in a statement.
“We recently began notifying a small number of users that a legacy payment method, that their Premium account is attached to, is being deprecated. Users notified by email will automatically move to a Free account from their next billing cycle. Users will then have the option to upgrade to a Premium account by logging into their account at Spotify.com. These actions will help ensure that we can continue to provide a consistent best-in-class subscription experience for all our users,” a company spokesperson said.
The company has disabled the option to subscribe through in-app purchases on iPhones since 2016. The company offered subscriptions through the App Store only for two years starting in 2014. Post that, Spotify showed a message saying “You can’t upgrade to premium in the app, We know, it’s not ideal” on iPhones.
Spotify and Apple have been at loggerheads on the latter’s App Store fees for years now. The Cupertino-based company is currently presenting its case to European regulators to dismiss Spotify’s antitrust charges.
The Sweden-based streaming company has also had similar arguments with Google regarding fees on in-app purchases made through the Play Store. However, both companies signed an agreement last year to let Spotify experiment with third-party billing options.
Earlier this year, during its Q1 2023 earnings call, Spotify said that it has more than 500 million monthly active users and over 210 million premium subscribers.