The European Commission headquarters in Brussels. Photo Credit: EmDee
That’ll be $800 million, please. A couple investigations and one stroke of the pen later, the European Commission has fined Apple (€500 million) and Meta (€200 million) the better part of $1 billion.
The European Union executive body announced as much in a formal release. As many know, both the mentioned companies (besides Google and other leading tech and social players) aren’t exactly strangers to aggressive regulatory scrutiny in the EU.
For Apple, that includes an astonishing $2 billion or so fine handed down last year over alleged anticompetitive behavior targeting music streaming apps. As we noted then, the penalty (which Apple promptly appealed) stemmed specifically from a 2019 complaint submitted by the vocal App Store critic Spotify.
Also as noted at the time, Apple was facing different investigations to boot; we detailed one such probe when it initiated in June 2024. And it’s in connection with this Digital Markets Act (DMA) inquiry, pertaining to purported consumer harm inflicted via App Store anti-steering policies, that the EC has ordered Apple to cough up €500 million.
According to the European Commission, “a number of restrictions” mean Apple is, in practice, preventing developers from informing “customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store.”
“Developers wanting to use alternative app distribution channels on iOS are disincentivised from doing so as this requires them to opt for business terms which include a new fee (Apple’s Core Technology Fee). Apple also introduced overly strict eligibility requirements,” the European Commission spelled out here.
That said, the entity did close a different investigation yet into Apple’s “user choice obligations,” including in terms of default-setting changes and more on iOS.
“This closure follows a constructive dialogue between the Commission and Apple,” the EC elaborated. “As a result, Apple changed its browser choice screen, streamlining the user experience of selecting and setting a new default browser on iPhone.”
Meta, on the other hand, is staring down a fine over an alleged failure to comply with the DMA with a “Consent or Pay” advertising model.
Keeping the focus on brass-tacks takeaways, the Facebook parent apparently embraced a revamped model some time back; the fine is for the system in place until November 2024.
As for where things go now, the companies must “comply with the Commission’s decisions within 60 days, otherwise they risk periodic penalty payments,” the EU agency relayed. Both Apple and Meta have fired back; Apple touched on plans to appeal as well.
While these massive fines don’t directly impact the core industry, the affected companies certainly have considerable music-space reach. Furthermore, the EU’s choppy regulatory waters are worth keeping in mind when it comes to Universal Music’s proposed Downtown buyout. Earlier in April, the much-criticized deal was referred to the European Commission for review.
