Google to Allow Alternative In-App Payments for Spotify Users

Spotify Technology has signed an agreement with Google to offer an alternative in-app payment method to its users, the latest sign of app stores' weakness for third-party software.

Spotify and Google announced the deal on Wednesday, allowing Spotify’s app within the Google play store to offer an alternative choice between its payment method and Google’s payment method, which gets around a 30% share of the revenue.

Google also did not address its revenue reduction under the new agreement. In a blog post, Google said Spotify will be the first of a handful of developers allowed to participate in a pilot program that allows for alternative payment options.

The ability to offer alternative in-app payment options has been at the heart of the battle that Spotify, Epic Games Inc. and other developers have waged against Google and Apple Inc. for several years.

The third-party applications have neeb arguing that blocking alternative payment methods is unfair, depriving users of choice, while the platforms have countered that their systems provide secure user payments and collect that are fair for the technology being offered.

South Korea enacted a similar law last year. Google has also said that it would allow alternative payment systems there but is still collecting a slice of the revenue generated through in-app. 

Apple is also engaged with a regulator in the Netherlands. The regulator has ordered the company to implement alternative payment methods in dating apps. Apple reduced its charging fee from 30% to 27% in response to this. The authorities were not satisfied with the company’s action and fined Apple more than $5 million.