Live Nation, Spotify Join the Ranks of Numerous Companies Halting Business in Russia

While many in the world are watching, waiting, and desperately wondering what to do about the recent Russian invasion in Ukraine, many corporations are taking action. The latest company to pull their business from Russia is the event and concert giant, Live Nation.

“Live Nation joins the world in strongly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the company said in a statement. “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.”

This announcement from Live Nation follows several similar statements, as the entertainment group Oak View Group and Universal Music Group both issued statements of support for Ukraine.

The streaming platform Spotify has also taken a stance against Russia in light of recent events. “In response to the crisis, we have taken several steps,” Spotify said in a press statement. “We have closed our office in Russia indefinitely and we are providing individual support to our personnel in the region as well as our global community of Ukrainian employees.”

Individual artists and bands have also canceled their shows in Russia—Green Day recently canceled their upcoming concert in Moscow.

Read Spotify’s full statement below, and stay tuned for more updates.

Statement from Spotify:

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Our first priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an important source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever.

In response to the crisis, we have taken several steps. We have closed our office in Russia indefinitely and we are providing individual support to our personnel in the region as well as our global community of Ukrainian employees.

Our team has reviewed thousands of pieces of content since the start of the war, and has restricted the discoverability of shows owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media. Earlier this week, we also took the additional step of removing all RT and Sputnik content from Spotify in the EU and other markets. Today, we launched a global guide on the Spotify platform to provide our users around the world with trusted news. We think it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information.

Our employees around the world are committed to helping people affected by the war in Ukraine and we are matching their donations two to one to support local humanitarian efforts. We are exploring additional steps that we can take and will continue to do what is in the best interest of our employees and our listeners.”