Apple and Spotify are at each other’s throats, but they still reportedly held talks about putting Spotify on Siri

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Tim Cook Daniel EkREUTERS/Lucas Jackson/AP/Business Insider composite

  • Apple and Spotify have held talks about making Siri capable of playing Spotify music on Apple devices, The Information reports.
  • The two companies have bad blood after Spotify lodged an antitrust complaint against Apple with the EU in March.
  • Apple’s refusal to hook up Siri with Spotify’s service was one of Spotify’s examples of how Apple allegedly abuses its power.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Apple and Spotify have held talks to make Siri capable of playing Spotify music — despite the two firms being locked in a fierce battle over an antitrust complaint, The Information reports.

Three people familiar with the matter told the Information that Apple and Spotify were hashing out a plan to let Siri play Spotify music for iPhone users, an ability the smart assistant currently lacks.

This follows on from an announcement Apple made in June that it would let allow audio app developers to connect their services up with Siri.

Spotify filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the EU in March of this year. CEO Daniel Ek wrote a letter accusing Apple of making changes to its App Store to "limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience — essentially acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers."

Read more: Spotify just painted a big target on Apple’s back, and the iPhone maker should worry if antitrust regulators start aiming at it

Apple hit back with an acerbic response, accusing Spotify of barely disguising its financial motivations with "misleading rhetoric," and taking aim at its relationship with artists.

Previously Spotify used the fact that it can’t hook up to Siri as evidence of Apple abusing its power. "Apple won’t allow us to be on HomePod and they definitely won’t let us connect with Siri to play your jams," an archived version of a site Spotify set up to critique Apple reads. The site is called TimeToPlayFair.com, and as The Information notes, Spotify has since modified the language.

"Only recently, Apple announced that it will let us connect with Siri to play your jams…but fails to mention our name ("I want to play [X] on Spotify") and your HomePod will default to Apple Music," it now reads.

Siri is far from Spotify’s only complaint about Apple. Its biggest point of contention is the 15 to 30% tax Apple puts on in-app purchases and subscriptions. "If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our Premium membership well above the price of Apple Music," Ek wrote in March.

Spotify and Apple were not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Isobel Asher Hamilton)

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