Spotify shut off 1.5M paid subscribers in Russia, free service still available

Spotify has suspended its paid premium service in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and that means a loss of about 1.5 million paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2022.

The streamer has also closed its offices in Russia and pulled content by Kremlin-affiliated media outlets RT and Sputnik.

Spotify’s free music and podcast streaming service is still available in Russia.

Spotify says that it has stopped accepting ads there, but is keeping the free service going in Russia “to allow for the global flow of information.”

Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s 2022 Technology, Media and Telecom Conference Wednesday Spotify CFO Paul Vogel said that Russia represents less than 1% of the streamer’s total revenue. That loss however comes at time when Spotify subscriber growth it already slowing.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.