Spotify Expands To 13 European Markets, Including Russia

Music streaming service Spotify Technology SA SPOT announced an expansion this week to 13 European markets, including Russia and Ukraine.

Spotify launched in 2008 and went public in 2018. 

Russia’s Massive Market: Spotify has a music catalogue including over 50 million tracks and 1 million podcasts. Spotify has both an ad-supported free version and paid premium subscription service, and oth services will be available in the new market expansion.

Spotify has more than 280 million users globally, and this latest expansion means the service is in 92 markets worldwide. 

Russia is on pace to be one of the top 10 streaming markets in the world by 2030, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

The organization estimates that 87% of Russians use streaming services, significantly higher than the 68% of Americans who stream.

Spotify’s Aggressive Growth: In the last month, Spotify has been aggressive in expanding its content and reach.

In the last two months, the platform has signed long-term podcast deals with Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian.

Future Russian Challenges: Don’t expect Spotify to instantly dominate the Russian music market. 

Apple Inc. AAPL Music has been streaming in Russia since 2015 and is priced at about $2.20 per month.

Spotify does have the advantage of being free, unlike Apple Music's paid-only subscription. Spotify also runs on browsers and Android-powered devices.

New Russian legislation will require all phones to be pre-loaded with certain Russian-created software, and there's no word on how Spotify will work with this vetting process.

Tech companies have not been exempt from strict Russian privacy laws, with Apple notably agreeing to store Russian user data on servers in the country. 

Photo courtesy of Spotify.