It appears the internet gods have finally answered the excited prayers of thousands of Ukrainian music fans. After years of rumors and numerous close calls, Spotify — the world’s largest music streaming service used in 70 countries — is about to officially become available in Ukraine.
The service may launch in Ukraine as soon as July 15, according to vigilant Twitter users who noticed that Spotify’s terms of use, which enter force on that day, mentioned Ukraine among the countries where the service is available.
A screenshot showing the Spotify web page mentioning Ukraine as a country where the service is available starting from July 15. (Kyiv Post)
Nonetheless, a day before the probable launch, the service was fully usable via its web player and its desktop application for macOS.
Instead of informing disappointed users that the service is unavailable in Ukraine, Spotify’s website now eagerly allows one to sign up — no VPN required.
A screenshot showing the Spotify website’s new launch page in Ukraine.
After a new user’s month-long free trial expires, the site suggests that he or she purchase a $4.99 monthly subscription with some additional features and no advertisements.
By the afternoon of July 14, Ukraine had been added to the list of supported countries on the service’s website, although the interface was not offered in Ukrainian.
Still, at publication time, the Spotify app is not yet available for download in Ukraine for iOS or Android.
With its expansion, Spotify joins a tight market dominated by streaming giants like Apple Music and Google Play Music, which is currently merging with YouTube Music. The streaming service offers 50 million music tracks and is praised by users for its skill at composing individualized playlists.
Rumors that Spotify is coming to Ukraine have circulated for years, but the past months were especially eventful.
On July 8, Spotify was reported to be preparing to launch in Russia starting on July 15.
Ukrainian tech media also reported that the service had registered with Belarus’ state tax service, which gave many Ukrainians hope that it would expand to Ukraine as well.
A screenshot showing the Spotify application for macOS used in Ukraine with a new Spotify account registered in Ukraine.
Spotify’s office for Europe in Berlin has long denied its plans to come to Ukraine in the foreseeable future, but, as early as 2019, it became known that the company registered the domain name spotify.ua.
In January, tech media reported that the Spotify web player was available at times for listening to music without a VPN. In late June, the service’s website marked Ukraine as one of the countries where it is available for a brief period of time.
Founded in 2008 in Sweden, Spotify had 286 million monthly active users, including 130 million paying subscribers, as of April 2020.
