Apple Fees for ‘X’ Creators Should Be Reduced, According to Elon Musk

Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter or “X,” announced today that he intends to engage with Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, about lowering the App Store costs for creators who make income by means of subscriptions on the Twitter/X social media platform.

The CEO shared his thoughts on creator support via a post. Musk claims that he will ask Apple to charge 30% of the creator fee collected by Twitter instead of the 30% of the total that is earned by a creator on Twitter. That might result in Twitter paying Apple a considerably smaller percentage of the money it pays to creators.

According to the post, Musk stated that the social media site doesn’t intend to charge creators who earn under $100,000. For users who make above $100,000, the social media site will charge them 10% of their total earnings. Furthermore, Musk claims that the social media site is free for all creators for the first twelve months. Apple would be entitled to 30% of the 10% cut that Twitter receives from creators making more than $100k if the companies agree.

When users make subscription purchases through the Twitter app on iOS devices, Apple receives in-app purchase fees. For the first year of subscription, Apple charges 30% and for the subsequent years, it charges 15%. Well, the company charges the same amount for all digital purchases on the App Store. Until now the Cupertino-based tech company has not compromised its rules for anyone.

With the existing in-app purchase system, Musk’s request would not be possible because Apple is now taking its fee from each customer who pays a creator as opposed to the creator directly. Previously, the social media site Facebook also protested against the fee Apple collects from creators when they go for Facebook subscriptions. Instead, the social media company Facebook promotes subscriptions on the web rather than on a smartphone. Well, social media sites can adopt this strategy to cut the fee charged by Apple.

In the past, Musk has blasted Apple’s App Store fees, describing the percentage that Apple keeps as “definitely not ok” and comparing it to a “30% tax on the internet.”