Spotify and Apple Music are going to block Russian artists
13 December 16:11
Russian music will be blocked on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and other streaming platforms by the National Security and Defense Council. The process is already underway for the first 120 artists from Russia.
This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing a comment by Oleksandr Sanchenko, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada subcommittee on the music industry and president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Music Events UAME, to Interfax-Ukraine.
Blocking Russian artists in Ukraine: what is known
Sanchenko explained how the process of blocking Russian artists on platforms is initiated.
According to him, UAME, together with the media, has compiled a list of performers for whom requests have been submitted to the Security Service of Ukraine.
“We created an open Google form and appealed to the music media to help with information. We added the list of performers and submitted it to the Security Service of Ukraine, and they (the SBU or the Ministry of Culture) submit it to the National Security and Defense Council. Some of them have already been sentenced, some are in the process,” Sanchenko said.
We have already communicated with representatives of popular streaming services about the possible implementation of the ban on Russian music. They outlined two key ways:
Legislative ban on the basis of language (which is undesirable for Ukraine due to the norms of European integration).
The existence of NSDC sanctions against specific artists
“They actually told us that there are two options: you either adopt a law that, for example, it should be banned on the basis of language, then we will react; or you have NSDC sanctions on specific artists and you apply that you want to block them by geolocation so that they are not broadcast in Ukraine, or remove them if they are related to terrorism or so on,” Sanchenko said.
The official said that “the first option is not valid from the point of view of Ukraine’s European integration,” so now “the President’s Office and the relevant parliamentary subcommittee are working to make the NSDC decision appear faster.”
The first 120 artists from Russia are next
According to Sanchenko, the process is currently underway for the first 120 artists from the aggressor country to receive restrictive decisions from the NSDC.
It is expected that in the near future, information about them will be sent to music platforms with a request to block content based on geolocation in Ukraine or remove it if it is related to terrorism.
The official hopes that by March 2026 it will become clear whether all streaming platforms will respond to this request.
“Good Russians” and Ukrainian content
Regarding the music of the so-called “good Russians” (Noize MC, Morgenshtern, etc.), on which the NSDC will not make a decision, Sanchenko emphasized that this is a “hanging question.”
He reminded that previous legislation provided for a mechanism of “white lists” for artists who publicly condemn Russian aggression. However, over the several years of this mechanism’s existence, not a single artist has been included in these lists.
As for Russian-language songs by Ukrainian performers, Sanchenko believes that their number will decrease naturally if the government supports Ukrainian-language music.
The need to block Russian music has been actively discussed at the state level for a long time.
For example, in February 2025, a petition to ban Russian-language songs on streaming services received the required number of votes.
At the time, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that there were no legal grounds for banning a music product solely on the basis of language, which confirms Sanchenko’s words about European integration standards.
In June, Ukrainian artists and the Ukrainian Agency of Copyright and Related Rights (UACRR) called on the authorities to initiate a direct dialogue with the offices of popular streaming platforms to discuss mechanisms for blocking the downloading and streaming of Russian songs in Ukraine.
Olena Ivanovska, the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, supported the idea, calling the blocking of Russian music “a necessary step to protect the cultural space of Ukraine.”
At the same time, Ivanovska emphasized the sensitivity of the issue of Russian-language songs created by Ukrainian artists. She noted that the current language legislation does not currently provide for sanctions or restrictions on such a creative product.
