Russian concert agencies have begun to include in contracts with artists a clause prohibiting statements about war and politics from the stage

Major concert agencies in Russia began to include a clause in contracts with artists that prohibits political statements from the stage. RBC writes about this with reference to industry representatives.

The publication received a copy of the contract with one of the Russian groups. The agreement obliges "to avoid any political topics during the concert" and prohibits "dissemination of untrue information about the course of the special military operation in Ukraine by any means, including audiovisual means."

The agreement also stipulates a ban on the use of symbols: Ukrainian state symbols, similar to it and others “in order to form incorrect conclusions about the goals and objectives of the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine, any discredit of the Russian Federation, state bodies of the Russian Federation, including the Russian Armed Forces” .

If these conditions are violated, and the concert is postponed or canceled, the performer will have to compensate for the costs of organizing the event and pay a fine of 500 thousand rubles within three days, the contract says.

The restrictions are related to the need to "insure the artist's performance," said Eduard Ratnikov, head of the TCI agency, which screened concerts by Rammstein, Aria, Alice, and other bands.

Contracts with some artists may include a ban on political statements not only directly from the stage, but also as part of the promotional campaign for a particular concert or tour, another source said. This ban affects, in particular, social networks, interviews and communication with fans. However, the interlocutor of RBC refused to provide a sample of such a contract.

RBC

• After the outbreak of the war in Russia, began to be canceled the performances of artists who expressed an anti-war position . Some musicians who oppose the war themselves canceled their concerts in the Russian Federation.
• In early July, the St. Petersburg edition of Fontanka published a list of Russian artists whose performances were allegedly recognized by the authorities as undesirable. It included DDT, Noise MS, Monetochka, Zemfira.