U.S. music streaming service Spotify plans to poke into the Russian market this summer with a price that beats rival Apple Music, Russian website Akket.com reports.
The music streaming service was supposed to launch in the country in 2015, before abruptly canceling those plans.
Now Spotify will likely launch later this year at a monthly 150 rubles ($2.35), which is priced lower than Apple Music. Apple’s platform starts at 169 rubles ($2.65) and does not feature a free ad-supported tier.
Spotify has yet to announce the launch, though a screengrab of the upcoming service has already leaked. Separately, a report in Russia’s Cnews.ru claims that the 150 ruble play is imminent.
In March this year RBC reported that Spotify would be launching in the country this summer following a report published by analysts at Sberbank forecasting Spotify’s entry into the market this year.
In that article, RBC also cites a source as saying that Spotify had been “in an active stage of negotiations with leading Russian music labels.”
Spotify ended the first quarter of this year with 100 million premium subscribers, up 32% (+25m) year-on-year.
Russia, with a population of 143.9 million people, is the world’s 23rd largest recorded music market, which was worth $98.4 million in 2018, according to the IFPI.
