Russia-Ukraine war: Spotify announces it will halt services in Russia from April 11

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine War entered day 43 on Thursday, April 7. Amid this, major brands, fashion outlets, production houses and streaming services have boycotted operations in Russia to condemn President Vladimir Putin's military offensive in Ukraine.

Following suit, Swedish audio streaming and media service platform, Spotify, which had previously decided to continue operations in Russia, confirmed on Thursday that it will halt its operation in the country from April 11 in condemnation of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

Spotify to cease operations in Russia

Spotify Technology SA announced that all of its services will be entirely suspended in Russia on April 11. Reportedly, an email regarding the same has been sent to users of the audio streaming service in the country. It details that the subscribers will be able to reactivate their accounts when they are abroad. 

Notable, Spotify continued its services in Russia after the onset of the war to provide 'critically trusted' and important news to the region. Addressing its decision to continue its service in Russia, Spotify had explained in a statement, ''Spotify has continued to believe that it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to provide trusted, independent news and information from the region. We think it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information", Deadline reported.

It was also revealed that Spotify restricted the discoverability of Russian content and removed all content from Kremlin-backed outlets RT and Sputnik from their platform. However, soon after, the decision was scrapped citing the safety of the organisations' employees. The streaming service while announcing its order of suspension, stated, ''Unfortunately, recently enacted legislation further restricting access to information, eliminating free expression, and criminalising certain types of news puts the safety of Spotify’s employees and the possibility of even our listeners at risk".

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