On March 25, 2022, the TASS edition reported that the Swedish streaming service Spotify will stop providing services to Russian users and completely suspend business in Russia from the beginning of April.
The reason for the decision to terminate services in Russia is the inability to comply with the new law on fake news, which came into force in March. Its violation provides for forced labor or imprisonment for up to three years, as well as a fine of up to 1.5 million rubles. In the presence of aggravating circumstances and if the violation caused serious consequences, the punishment may increase to 15 years in prison.
Spotify believes that its continued operation in the country under the current conditions jeopardizes the safety of both employees and users of the service. “After carefully considering our alternatives, given the current circumstances, we have come to the difficult decision to completely terminate our services in Russia,” a Spotify spokesperson explained.
Probably, from the beginning of April, access to the library of the music streaming service and podcasts will be blocked for Russian users who do not have a current paid subscription or after it ends. So far, Spotify has not clarified this situation.
On March 2, Spotify closed its office in Russia for an indefinite period.
On March 6, the company clarified under the slogan “Listen to millions of tracks of your choice, offline and ad-free” without limits, that the Spotify Premium subscription is no longer available for purchase and renewal for Russian users due to payment restrictions from payment providers.
The music streaming service Spotify has become available to Russian users since July 15, 2020.
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