Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, music streaming service Spotify has taken action against artists who are known to be in support of the Russian war in Ukraine. The platform has removed the profiles and music of several artists who were believed to have links to the war. Names include the band Lyube, Oleg Gazmanov, Grigory Leps, and Polina Gagarina, amongst others.
Many of the artists impacted had been the subject of EU sanctions that were introduced in 2022 when the war began. Among those artists was Shaman, who was listed as having “repeatedly participated in Kremlin-organized concerts” and performed “concerts in the illegally occupied regions of Ukraine.” Similarly, Polina Gagarina was listed as “generating significant revenue” from state-sponsored events that were held in celebration of the annexation of Crimea.
The platform had previously closed its Moscow office “indefinitely” following the outbreak of the war, with an announcement that it would be providing support to its “global community of Ukrainian employees.” However, the platform said it would keep the service operational to allow for the “global flow of information.”
In a letter sent to the Moscow Times, Spotify said: “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.” It seems the removal of these profiles is part of Spotify’s commitment to upholding its policies and maintaining a clear stance on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine
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