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Spotify opens local office in Russia under Moscow’s requirements

In accordance with the new law, foreign Internet companies with a daily audience of more than 500,000 users must open their authorized representative offices in Russia

© AP Photo/Richard Drew

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Audio streaming service Spotify opened a representative office in Russia to comply with Moscow’s new rules on requiring foreign tech firms to localize their operations in the country, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media announced on Friday.

According to the service, the company fulfilled the requirement to "create a branch, or open a representative office, or establish a Russian legal entity".

In accordance with the new law, foreign Internet companies with a daily audience of more than 500,000 users must open their authorized representative offices in Russia. The nation’s mass media watchdog has already published a list of companies that are required to open representative offices, and it includes Google, Apple, Meta Platforms, Twitter, TikTok, Telegram, and others.

Spotify was launched in 2008 and has been operating in Russia since the summer of 2020. Today, Spotify has over 381 mln users, including 172 mln Spotify Premium subscribers in 178 countries.

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