• by Colin Kirkland , November 21, 2023

Spotify, the leading music streaming service, has been accused of striking a deal with Google that allowed it to pay no commission when people signed up for subscriptions using Spotify's own payment system on Android, according to testimony in the Epic v. Google trial.

When people signed up through Google, Spotify paid Google just four percent commission compared to the typical 15% fee, saving the company a substantial amount of money.

Google head of global partnerships Don Harrison confirmed that Spotify paid a zero percent commission, noting that the “bespoke” deal happened as a result of Spotify's “unprecedented” popularity as a streaming platform.

“If we don't have Spotify working properly across Play services and core services, people will not buy Android phones,” Harrison said, adding that both Spotify and Google agreed to pitch in $50 million each to a “success fund” as part of the deal.

“A small number of developers that invest more directly in Android and Play may have different service fees as part of a broader partnership that includes substantial financial investments and product integrations across different form factors,” explained Google spokesperson Dan Jackson in a statement for The Verge.

“These key investment partnerships allow us to bring more users to Android and Play by continuously improving the experience for all users and create new opportunities for all developers,” Jackson added.

Google, which has not yet provided the names of any other developers who are receiving the same treatment the tech giant gave Spotify, disclosed the Spotify numbers during the ongoing lawsuit with Epic Games that began in 2020 when Epic claimed Google's Play Store on Android was an illegal monopoly.

In 2021, Epic sued Apple for the same reason and lost.

Typically, developers who use their own payment system on Google's Play Store receive a 4 percent deduction from the 15% subscription service fee, per Google's User Choice Billing program.

Spotify originally supported Epic in its fight against Google and Apple, but flipped when it began using the User Choice Billing program.