Spotify has begun deleting music from its platform by Russian artists who support or have supported the war in Ukraine. As early as 2022, the Swedish company closed its Moscow office in response to the conflict, announcing that it would be out of operation “indefinitely.”
After suspending its services completely in the country, the streaming platform has now begun deleting the profiles of these artists, completely removing their music collection. According to the Moscow Times, the band Lyube, Grigory Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, Polina Gagarina and Shaman, among many others, are said to be among those affected.
In a statement sent to the Moscow media, Spotify assures that everything has been decided based on the “rules of the platform”: “We take action when we identify content that explicitly violates our content policies or local laws. Upon review, these artists met the conditions for removal,” the statement concludes, without specifying the “content” that violates its policies.
