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According to Spotify, this new regulation puts the safety of its employees and even that of its listeners at risk.
The streaming company closed its offices in Russia and removed from the platform the contents of the Russian state media RT and Sputnik.
This Friday Spotify announced that it will completely suspend its streaming service in Russia at the end of April in response to the country’s new law on media, after the war that began with Ukraine on February 24.
According to data from Statista, Swedish tech giant Spotify has been the leader in music streaming services for the last few yearsleaving behind market competitors such as Apple Music or Amazon.
Likewise, the statistics platform indicates that Spotify continues to obtain the majority of its income through its premium subscribers instead of content with advertising. At the end of 2021, the number of paid Spotify subscribers exceeded 180 million worldwide for the first time. Paying subscribers make up close to half of Spotify’s monthly active users, with the number rising from 286 million subscribers in early 2020 to 406 million at the end of 2021. At the same time, the average premium revenue per user has decreased. constantly. over the years, amounting to just €4.29 per user in 2021 compared to €6.84 in 2015.
The new Russian regulations
According to Spotify, this new regulation puts the safety of its employees and even that of its listeners at risk. Let us remember that the new Russian regulations make it illegal to report any event that could discredit the Russian army.
“Spotify has continued to believe that it is vitally important to try to keep our service operational in Russia in order to provide reliable and independent news and information in the region. Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation that further restricts access to information, suppresses freedom of expression, and criminalizes certain types of news, puts the safety of Spotify employees and possibly even our listeners at risk,” a spokesperson for Spotify said. signature through a statement.
At the beginning of the month, the streaming music platform had already stopped offering premium subscriptions in Russia, but its free service was still available in that country.
As also the streaming company closed its offices in Russia and removed from the platform the contents of the Russian state media RT and Sputnik.
Given this response, they are joined by those of other technology companies such as Apple and Google that have also stopped offering products and services in Russia.
Even video game companies like Electronic Arts stopped selling their titles and downloadable content in the country and Belarus due to the war. Many other companies have withdrawn from the Russian market for the same reason.
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