Russian artists will be blocked on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms following decisions by the National Security and Defense Council, according to Oleksandr Sanchenko, head of the Verkhovna Rada subcommittee on the music industry and president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Music Events UAME, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
UAME created an open Google form and reached out to music media for information support. "We added a list of artists and submitted it to the Security Service of Ukraine, and they or the Ministry of Culture submit it to the NSDC. Some have already been issued, some are in process," Sanchenko said.
The MP explained that streaming platforms have already been consulted on how they envision implementing the ban on Russian music in Ukraine.
"They essentially told us that there are two options: either you pass a law that, for example, requires banning by language, then we will respond; or you have NSDC sanctions on specific artists and you request that you want to block by geolocation so they are not displayed in Ukraine, or delete if it relates to terrorism or similar," Sanchenko said.
The first option does not meet Ukraine's European integration requirements, he explained. The Presidential Office and the relevant parliamentary subcommittee are now working to ensure the NSDC decision is adopted as quickly as possible.
The process currently involves the first 120 artists who have come under sanctions. The MP expects the NSDC to transfer information about them to music platforms in the near future.
International streaming platforms operating officially in Ukraine include Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, SoundCloud, Amazon Music (limited access, without full localization), and Tidal (available but not widely used). Ukrainian services MEGOGO Music and Kyivstar Music also operate in the market.
Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music hold the largest market share in Ukraine and are the primary platforms for content policy discussions.
