Why is Spotify not available in Iran?

[iamerkin]

Hi. I am an Iranian university student. Pirating is not illegal in Iran since there is no international copyright laws whatsoever at work here. However, I try my best not to pirate stuff since I understand there are efforts being put into these stuff. That's why I use Ubuntu and free and open source software, buy original games from the PSN, and generally pay for things that I could and use free alternatives for the rest. That's why I started using Spotify a few weeks ago. Well, streaming music for free is a far cry from buying songs, but at least it was legal. You know, I am a student and does not earn much, I cannot afford buying all my favorite songs from iTunes or Amazon or get a premium Spotify account. One day, I will do that, but right now I cannot. So, Spotify was my best choice, because I felt good that I was not pirating songs.

Yet I cannot log into my Spotify anymore because I am logging in from Iran. Why? People always talk about freedom and stuff but when it comes to acting what they preach, you cannot help but notice the discriminations. What? You want me to continue pirating songs? Okay, fine by me, pirating is completely legal in Iran, and believe me, it will be a lot cheaper for me as I only have to download songs once. You have problems with the Iranian government? What? You think preventing an Iranian student from listening to music legally can damage the Iranian government? I am not in favor of my government but if you are not letting a poor student listen to his favorite songs, you are not much better either yourselves.

[Maxim]

Hi @iamerkin!

Spotify wants to be with everyone, but sometimes it’s not possible right away. Hopefully they’ll be with you soon!

[iranspotify]

Why not?

[ferfermangool]

It's fairly easy.
there are several other online services that won't recognize Iranian users as well, like iOS on iPhones and iPads.

the reason is payment issues. Many of these services are not free but run on ads to balance out their revenues, just like Spotify. (unless you are going premium).
Iran is a detached society in terms of banking ties.

now you do the math 😉

[ataranji]

even though Iran is a detached society in terms of banking as the result of the goverment politics, many individuals are trying to overcome the restrictions forced upon them by spending much more money than the normal rates, as an example i've been using spotify premium for about a year and half, spending around 20 us dollars worth of Rials to buy spotify gift cards, which is twice the actual price!

we really DO know the math, but its really NOT pleasant to live in a place where you are under sanction both from your own goverment and the rest of the world at the same time.

[behzadsaeedi]

So now the government of Iran can't listen to Spotify while making a nuclear weapon!

That makes them unable to concentrate and therefore the world will have a nuke-free Iran!

Such a smart solution!

Well done!

P.S. I have no problem with anyone, and I still love Spotify but really can't understand these kinds of policies!

[Safariba]

I am student in Europe and I have premium Spotify account. When I go back to Iran to visit my family, I am not able to stream music! Why is this? 

Please provide equal service to every one around the world! Or at least explain the reasoning behind this choice? 

Bests,

[alirezarz62]

Its available for streaming and there's no problem! Even if there was any issue you can stream with a VPN!

[siavashtechdad]

Hi

Spotify has become availabe in Iran to be used without VPN from few days ago . Now you can stream and download songs without using a VPN at very high speeds . Unfortunatly Spotify has not enabled Spotify Connect for Iran yet and this feature does not work . 

I'm hopping for Spotify to enable spotify connect so premium users in Iran could benefit from this feature as well .

Regards

[flo85]

I want to join I can’t I have ready acccoubtv

[amirossein]

Why did you block Iran?

Why do we have to go through so much trouble to use this?

Why is a country like Israel, with a history of killing, on your list of countries, but Iran is not?
We are in 2024, and our goal should be to make people's lives easier, but you don’t seem to share that belief!

Please remove Iran from the filtered list. There are many people in Iran who are using this app.