Spotify CEO Lobby's Lawmakers About Apple's 'Power'

Spotify Technology SA’s chief executive officer is engaged in a Washington charm offensive this week that he hopes will convince the US government to curb the power of his company’s nemesis, Apple Inc.

Bloomberg reports Daniel Ek, who is also the company’s co-founder, said in an interview that he’s taking a “bipartisan” approach as he encourages lawmakers to reintroduce policies that would lessen Apple’s enormous control over its app store.

He said he’s had meetings with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer among many others on his first trip to Washington in years.

Daniel Ek

Ek added that Spotify’s recent clashes with Apple over audiobooks prompted him to get personally engaged in the fight.

“That got me to feel like this is untenable,” Ek said, referring to Apple rejecting Spotify’s new audiobook features several times before allowing it in a limited capacity last year.

Ek said that audiobooks would play an important role in the Swedish company’s future, but right now the experience of buying audiobooks from Spotify on the Apple app store is “pretty horrible.”

Apple said in a statement that “the Spotify app was rejected for not following the guidelines regarding including explicit in-app communications to direct users outside the app to make digital purchases. We provided them with clear guidance on how to resolve the issue, and approved their app after they made changes that brought it into compliance.”

Ek’s visit comes as legislation known as the Open App Markets Act has stalled in Congress after Schumer chose not to bring it to the floor for a vote last year.