Just last month, Epic Games announced that it would acquire the music platform Bandcamp. Now, Bandcamp is the latest reason Epic Games is taking legal action against Google, this time over the tech giant’s Android app billing crackdown.
Epic Games has filed a preliminary injunction that seeks to prevent Google from removing the Bandcamp app from the Play Store. Currently, Bandcamp is violating Google’s terms of Android app billing by not using Play Store billing.
In a blog post, Bandcamp co-founder Ethan Diamond points out that Bandcamp has had its own billing system on Android since 2015 which allows artists to sell their music and merchandise to fans. In years past, this use fell in line with Google’s guidelines for digital music services. However, Google has tightened its billing rules over the past year and, starting June 1, Bandcamp and apps like it would be required to pay Google’s 30% cut on in-app sales. However, as The Verge points out, it seems Bandcamp was offered some deal here with a 10% cut instead.
Still, Epic and Bandcamp argue that any cut from Google would affect the ability to pay out to artists, or inflate costs for buyers. Diamond explains in a post, emphasis our own:
If Google’s policy changes stand, beginning on June 1st, we would have to either pass Google’s fees on to consumers (making Android a less attractive platform for music fans), pass fees on to artists (which we would never do), permanently run our Android business at a loss, or turn off digital sales in the Android app. Furthermore, the policy changes would impact our ability to pay artists quickly – instead of receiving payment after 24 to 48 hours, artists may not be paid until 15 to 45 days after a sale.
As it stands today, Bandcamp runs its sales through PayPal, and Epic argues that switching to Google Play Billing would “require significant time and effort.” Epic does admit, though, that Bandcamp has been well aware of Google’s requirements for over a year now, and Epic knew about the change when it acquired the company.
In the past, Bandcamp has not supported purchases through its iOS app, but appears to now offer its own billing system on Apple’s platform. Epic noted in an email to 9to5Google that this billing is only for physical goods sold through the platform, and is not a part of Apple’s “reader” policy introduced last month.
Bandcamp isn’t the only app that’s been affected by Google’s crackdown. Barnes & Noble and Amazon recently made changes to their e-book apps to remove the ability to purchase content, and there are many other examples out there. Google has been working on “User Choice” billing, though, in a pilot with Spotify.
More on Google Play:
- Google Play announces support for third-party ‘User Choice’ app billing, starting with Spotify
- Audible, Barnes & Noble Nook remove in-app purchases on Android over tightened Google rules
- Google effectively delays Play Billing requirement for Android in-app purchases amid lawsuit
Author: Ben Schoon
Source: 9TO5Google
