If you needed any more proof that Russian social network vKontakte is on a path from friend to foe for the music industry, witness the appearance of all three labels on a panel event at its VK Fest conference.
The Moscow Times has translated some of their comments on vKontakte’s plans for a full-on music subscription service. “Users will still be able to listen to audio recordings for free but some paid functions will appear, such as adding audio to your own account,” said WMG’s Alexandr Blinov. The report suggests that VK’s monthly subscription will cost “roughly the same as a cup of coffee” in Russia. A separate report of the news on local news site Izvestia provides some useful information on one of the main competitors, Apple Music, which is thought to have reached 300,000 paying users in Russia by January this year.
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