Russian singers who support Russia’s aggression, such as Filipp Kirkorov or Dima Bilan, have long been unable to perform in Estonia. However, Propastop investigated whether their songs are still being played on Estonian radio stations. By playing the songs of pro-Putin musicians, our radio stations would support their ideology, and by paying royalties, they would enrich war instigators.
According to data published by Kantar Emor in April, the four most listened-to Russian-language radio stations were Raadio 4 (37,000 listeners per day), Super Radio (formerly Russkoje Radio), and SKY Радио (18,000 listeners), as well as Narodnoje Radio (17,000 listeners).
ERR’s channel Raadio 4 constantly monitors the attitudes of neighbouring musicians towards the war in Ukraine. “We have been trying to avoid playing artists like Ljube and Russian chanson for a long time,” says Raadio 4 music editor Dmitri Mikryukov. “But after 2022, many others have also been dropped.”
Immediately after the war began, the first list of popular musicians among Estonian radio listeners who supported Russia’s war became clear – for example, Grigory Leps, Filipp Kirkorov, Larisa Dolina, Nikolay Baskov, the rock band Nautilus Pompilius, and others. “We immediately agreed in the editorial office that we would no longer air those musicians who perform at Kremlin propaganda concerts and go to perform in Donbas,” said Raadio 4 editor-in-chief Julia Bali in an interview with Eesti Ekspress.
But over time, the list of artists removed from the playlist has continued to grow, as more well-known musicians, under the pressure of ultranationalists or to make money, perform in occupied Ukrainian territories or verbally support Putin’s war. Even if listeners request their songs during request shows, Raadio 4 no longer plays, for example, songs by Dima Bilan, who won Eurovision in 2008 and last performed in Estonia in 2017. This also includes songs by Russian stars such as Valeria, Oleg Gazmanov, Timati, Jelena Vaenga, Masha Rasputina, Vladimir Presnjakov, and bands like Agatha Christie, Chaif, and others.
Raadio 4 listeners are still treated to songs by artists who have spoken out against the war and many of whom have left their homeland. Music editor Dmitri Mikryukov mentions Bi-2, Zemfira, Splean, DDT, Akvarium, Mashina Vremeni, Maksim Leonidov, Valery Meladze, Natalya Vetlitskaja, and, of course, superstar Alla Pugacheva as examples.
Since the selection of popular Russian musicians has decreased, Raadio 4 compensates by including a larger proportion of songs by singers performing in other languages. “We have not decided to completely avoid Russian-language songs, because it would not be fair to those artists who speak out against the war and many of whom no longer live in Russia,” Mikryukov told Propastop.
Of course, Raadio 4’s audience also hears Ukrainian artists, many of whom previously sang in Russian: Tina Karol, 5’Nizza, SunSay, Ivan Dorn. Additionally, the works of musicians who passed away before the full-scale war broke out continue to be played on Estonia’s most popular Russian-language radio station: Kino, Mikhey and Jumanji, Zhenya Belousov, Zhanna Friske, and others.
Has the playlist of commercial radio stations changed as well?
Both SKY Радио and Super Radio belong to the Sky Media radio group, and their joint program director is Natalya Shustrova. In response to Propostop’s question about what changes these two radio stations have made to their playlists since the outbreak of the war, Šustrova first replied: “Sky Media’s Russian-language music radio stations, SKY Радио and Super Radio, do not engage in political propaganda and operate in accordance with Estonian laws and the stipulations of their broadcasting licenses. Official ‘stop-lists’ of artists have not been provided to the radio stations. We monitor the statements and attitudes of various artists, including not only those related to the war, but also topics like gender equality, racism, etc.”
Propastop then clarified the question, listing specific Russian pop musicians who publicly support Putin’s war, and asked whether their music is played on SKY Радио and Super Radio.
“Shaman, Pelageya, Dolina, Va-Bank, Timati, Gazmanov, Leps, Rasputina, Lyube, and many other Russian-language singers do not fit with the music formats of our radios,” Šustrova replied to the follow-up question.
Narodnoye Radio’s program director, Aleksey Isatchenko, did not respond to Propastop’s written questions over the course of two weeks regarding whether the radio station has excluded war-supporting Russian artists from their music selection.
If Propastop readers have any observations about the music selection of radio stations worth sharing, please send them to: [email protected].
Who is who, or ЛЮДИ / НЕ ЛЮДИ?
“Nowadays, it’s not difficult to find out an artist’s stance on the war. Just type their name into a search engine and add ‘говорит о войне в Украине’ (talks about the war in Ukraine),” explains Raadio 4 music editor Mikryukov.
If you’re interested in knowing which side of the front line a particular Russian musician is on, the reliable way to find out is the page ЛЮДИ / НЕ ЛЮДИ? (People/Non-People?).
Russia’s most popular singer in history, Alla Pugacheva, is on the people’s side in this list, and the site’s authors have highlighted two of her thoughts – one of them is shown in the adjacent screenshot. The other concerns film director Nikita Mikhalkov, who has made internationally acclaimed films like “Burnt by the Sun” and “The Barber of Siberia.” However, years ago, Mikhalkov became an ultranationalist and, of course, supported the assault on Ukraine. About her famous compatriot, Pugacheva has said: “Great film. Great director. But where has the great person Nikita Sergeyevich Mihalkov gone?”
This question is relevant for many talented Russian cultural figures.
The screenshots used as illustrations are from the site ЛЮДИ / НЕ ЛЮДИ?
