More music and media companies pull out of Russia over Ukraine war
The sanctions keep piling up and the isolation of Russia is becoming more intense. More and more music and media companies continue to push Putin into a corner.
There’s close to zero foreign reporting from inside Russia due to a new “fake news” law that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. CNN, the BBC, and all the other foreign networks have left.
TikTok has also pulled out of Russia. “In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law. We will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when we might fully resume our services with safety as our top priority.”
Live Nation has this statement: “Live Nation joins the world in strongly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We will not promote shows in Russia, and we will not do business with Russia. We’re in the process of reviewing our vendors so we can cease work with any and all Russian-based suppliers.”
Spotify has closed its Russian offices “indefinitely.” At the moment though, the company continues to be accessible in Russia because “We think it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information.” They have a point, too. Spotify is being used as a backdoor for getting outside information into the country. People are using Spotify the local propaganda being shoveled out by the Russian government.
Netflix has suspended Russian services. The biggest reason there is that a new Russian law requires that Netflix carry 20 state-controlled channels for free. Netflix said FU to that, so “given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia.”
Russian artists are bravely speaking out against the war. So are at least 17,000 arts workers, which includes everyone from musicians to actors to museum workers.
Then there’s this petition that demands performing rights organizations pull all music from Russia.
And Sting has reissued his 1985 anti-war song, “Russians.”
