Spotify Removes Songs of Pro-War Russian Artists
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Loading... - Willow Cook
- 24 Jul 2024
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Spotify, the Sweden-based music streaming service, has removed the songs and profiles of several pro-war Russian artists who have been sanctioned by Western countries. This action comes as a result of the artists' support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Artists Affected
Lyube (Band)
Grigory Leps (Singer)
Oleg Gazmanov (Singer)
Shaman (Yaroslav Dronov, Singer)
Polina Gagarina (Singer)
Spotify's Statement
Spotify provided a statement to The Moscow Times, emphasizing their adherence to content policies and local laws: "Our Platform Rules clearly state that we take action when we identify content which explicitly violates our content policies or local laws. Upon review, these artists met the threshold for removal."
Lyube, Leps, and Gazmanov have been under EU sanctions since 2022.
These artists have been subject to EU sanctions since 2022, when Russia initiated its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Shaman and Polina Gagarina were included in the latest EU sanctions.
Spotify suspended its streaming services and closed its office in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Despite their removal from Spotify, these artists' profiles remain accessible on other platforms, such as Apple Music and YouTube.
There were earlier unconfirmed reports from Russian media outlets suggesting that the Spotify accounts of these artists might have been hacked, leading to the removal of their songs. However, Spotify's statement attributes the removal to violations of their content policies and local laws.
This move aligns with Spotify's ongoing response to geopolitical events and their impact on content moderation policies.
