The trade body, which represents businesses including Deezer, HMV, Amazon, and Spotify, said Apple’s decision hinders competitors and stands in the way of innovation.
It said: ‘The dispute between HMV and iTunes highlights, we believe, serious issues of competition in the digital entertainment world.’
‘iTunes is by far the dominant player in music downloads with a marketshare estimated to be over 70 percent, but just as importantly it also maintains an iron grip on access to the hugely powerful iPhone/iPad platform, which effectively hinders competitors from reaching millions of consumers and stands in the way of innovation.’
‘With market power comes responsibility and we urge iTunes to act responsibly and allow the development of a free market in music online.’
HMV’s free app allows users to download music direct from HMV.com into their iTunes library but was removed from Apple's App Store on Monday.
The app is still fully available on Apple's rival, Google Android.
It said: ‘The dispute between HMV and iTunes highlights, we believe, serious issues of competition in the digital entertainment world.’
‘iTunes is by far the dominant player in music downloads with a marketshare estimated to be over 70 percent, but just as importantly it also maintains an iron grip on access to the hugely powerful iPhone/iPad platform, which effectively hinders competitors from reaching millions of consumers and stands in the way of innovation.’
‘With market power comes responsibility and we urge iTunes to act responsibly and allow the development of a free market in music online.’
HMV’s free app allows users to download music direct from HMV.com into their iTunes library but was removed from Apple's App Store on Monday.
The app is still fully available on Apple's rival, Google Android.
