[navaati]

It really is some validation when your competitor has to grudgingly allow you to exist because your users (to both you and them) want you so much that it would disserve them to screw you.

It means that you're that much good. Some folks at Spotify must be unbearably proud today.

[coralreef]

I feel like this is ultimately not the motivating factor and that anti-trust is more-so the reason. Apple wants to keep regulators just happy enough.

"Apple Music now has more paid subscribers in the United States than Spotify, according to a new report by Reuters. A “person familiar with the matter” told Reuters that Apple now has 28 million paid subscribers, while Spotify has 26 million. However, thanks to Spotify’s free tier, the Swedish streaming company reportedly still holds more overall users than Apple Music in the U.S."

https://pitchfork.com/news/apple-music-now-has-more-paid-us-...

[SyneRyder]

Those numbers seem way off. Spotify now has 37 Million paying/Premium subscribers in North America according to their Q4 2019 filings. They are crushing Apple Music by a good margin.

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2020-02-05/spotify-reports-four...

[tiernano]

Other guess is that they realise they could be fucked by the eu or us for anti trust if they don't...

[huebomont]

This is absolutely not the reason, they got a whiff of some anti-trust stuff and are trying to head it off.