As a part of a new pilot aimed at countering app makers’ concerns over high fees and anti-competitive behavior, Google has permitted Spotify to use its own payment system in its android app.

Spotify indicated the Google trial was part of a multi-year deal.

A select number of participating developers, beginning with Spotify, will be able to offer an alternate billing option in addition to Google Play's billing system in their apps as part of the experiment.

In the coming months, users who download Spotify via the Google Play Store will be given the option of paying with Spotify's payment system or Google Play Billing in select areas, which neither Google nor Spotify have confirmed.

Users on Android and iOS can only buy digital products within apps using Google and Apple's respective payment systems. These are the only systems approved, and they charge a 30 percent fee for purchases. In other words, Google and Apple are pursuing a multibillion-dollar industry on their own and with huge profit margins.

App developers who offer digital items, such as Spotify, have long complained about using the Play Store and Apple's App Store's official payment methods.

In the new experiment, Google did not define the fee it will charge.

Google is stepping up enforcement of its Google Play Billing requirement, and non-compliant apps may be barred from uploading updates as early as Friday.

“This pilot will help us to increase our understanding of whether and how user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories”, says Google.

Last year, Google said it would allow developers in South Korea to use a second payment method in addition to its own, citing a new competition law.