[Podcasts] Podcasts on Spotify Russia

[akhasirdz]

When will the podcast category become available on Spotify Russia? I have been a paying premium user for years, and after moving to Russia I have lost access to all podcasts on Spotify. 

[CarlosE]

Hey there @akhasirdz,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community!

Due to translation and extensive product development, it is common to launch in markets without offering the full Spotify product range. That said, podcasts are an important part of Spotify. We are working to get our podcast offering up and running in Russia as soon as we are able. 

Hope you find this info useful. If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

Cheers 🙂

[akhasirdz]

Thank you for your response.

I don't understand what additional development podcasts may require. How is making podcasts accessible different from making music accessible? 

[Eni]

Hi @akhasirdz, 

Thanks for getting back to us. We'll be happy to shed some light on this 🙂

When we launch in a new region, all content on Spotify needs to be re-negotiated with the license and copyright holders for the specific markets, unless that has been done beforehand, which can take quite a while and there's never a guarantee that all markets will have the same content available as it varies heavily from region to region.

The fees Spotify needs to pay and the subscription prices also depend on these licenses and the content available, so it's a very complicated business process to actually align all content and we can understand if it is a bit confusing, but it really isn't as simple as flipping a switch.

Hope this helps clear things up. If you need help with anything else, just let us know. 

Cheers!