A former Google executive, that is Don Harrisonthrough testimony given in the trial between Epic and the Mountain View giant, revealed an agreement between Google itself and Spotify, which would allow the well-known music streaming platform to “get around” Play Store fees and, therefore, not to pay them.
The former executive, in fact, specified that Spotify does not pay any commission when processing payments, while it pays a 4% fee when payments are processed through Google Pay. Furthermore, another fact that emerged is that the two companies would have committed to investing 50 million dollars each “in a successful fund”. An unusual fact, given that Google usually applies a 15% commission to subscription apps on the Play Store. This rate can then be reduced to 11% if developers opt for their own payment solutions or if they rely on third parties.
Google’s response was not long in coming.
In fact, via a note from the spokesperson Dan Jackson, the company said: “A small number of developers who invest more directly in Android and Play may have different service fees as part of a larger partnership that includes substantial financial investments and product integrations in different form factors. These important investment partnerships allow us to bring more users to Android and Play by continuously improving the experience for all users and creating new opportunities for all developers.”
TheVerge
