New Delhi: Swedish music streaming giant Spotify and Google have inked multiyear a deal to offer an alternative payment method to listeners within the app, in a move that indicates how app stores are losing grip over third-party software. Both the companies describe the partnership as a "first-of-its-kind option in payment choice" that offers opportunities for both consumers and developers.
Over the coming months, Spotify will work with Google’s product and engineering teams to build this new experience, and the ability will be rolled out in countries around the world. The companies will test and learn, jointly exploring product innovations across the Android platform. Spotify mentioned it anticipates launching the first iteration of "User Choice Billing" later this year.
“Spotify is on a years-long journey to ensure app developers have the freedom to innovate and compete on a level playing field. We’re excited to be partnering with Google to explore this approach to payment choice and opportunities for developers, users, and the entire internet ecosystem. We hope the work we’ll do together blazes a path that will benefit the rest of the industry," Alex Norström, Chief Freemium Business Officer, said in a statement.
So now, users will essentially be able to choose between making payments via either Spotify's alternative payment method or Google’s own payment method, which takes 30 per cent share of the revenue. Spotify earlier did not let users to sign up for paid services through Google app to avoid giving away that fee and asked users to go to the company’s website.
“Android has always been about openness and user choice. This step is an important milestone for mobile app stores and I can’t imagine a better first partner than Spotify. They value choice as much as we do and understand the importance and continued investment in Android and Play to the health of the entire ecosystem. This is an exciting first step and we look forward to adding new partners and learning how this model could be expanded across the platform," said Sameer Samat, Vice President, Product Management at Google.