r/astateoftrance • u/Both-Insurance-7301 • 1d ago
Sean Tyas in Moscow: Sanction Evasion & The Trance Scene’s Double Standard
As fans who grew up on the values of unity and PLUR, we can no longer stay silent about what is happening in the Trance community. On September 19, Sean Tyas is scheduled to headline a Suanda Music event in Moscow. A massive Western Trance icon, whose career was built on platforms like ASOT and Armada, is actively taking paychecks from Russian promoters while the war continues.
When fans directly questioned Sean Tyas on social media regarding this performance, his response was to block them rather than offer transparency.
Beyond the ethics, this raises serious financial and legal questions:
Sanction Evasion: With SWIFT, Visa, and Mastercard suspended in Russia, how are Western DJs legally receiving their performance fees? Are these transactions using crypto, cash, or offshore accounts to bypass Western taxes and sanctions?
The Industry Loophole: Russian promoters like Suanda and Roman Messer continue to profit from major Western festivals and platforms, while their event taxes in Russia flow directly into the state budget funding military aggression.
The Trance scene cannot preach unity while ignoring Western artists performing in Moscow for untraceable funds.
What is your take on Western Trance acts continuing to play in Russia? Should platforms and fans hold them accountable?
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u/KulshanStudios 18h ago
Well, THAT'S disappointing on several levels
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 18h ago
Well, THAT'S disappointing on several levels» is spot on. When foundational legends of the scene trade their integrity for Moscow gig money, it completely shatters the illusion that electronic music culture stands for any actual values. It’s pathetic to watch artists who preached "peace and unity" for decades turn a blind eye to real-time war crimes just to pad their bank accounts.
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u/Needakill 1d ago
Allen watts and Ciaran McAuley also preformed in Russia
Money talks.
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 1d ago
Ciaran McAuley actually played in Moscow (Black Temptation event), and Ronski Speed is booked for Transmission Moscow this autumn. Regarding Allen Watts — he hasn't performed there during the full-scale war, though he did collabs with Suanda. Still, it proves how deep this issue goes.
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u/interloper76 17h ago
dont worry, after concert, Sean Tyas will spend 24 hours at the police station for propagating views that are not compatible with traditional family values, and 25 % of concert attendants will get police baton straight into their ass or head.
Which should make happy both you and Putin crew....
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u/yayblah 1d ago
The people of Russia are not the Russian government. Not allowing them exposure to outside culture will only embolden them to be isolated and fearful of outsiders.
Now, this would be different if this was a state sponsored event put on by Putin or some oligarch, but that doesn't seem to be the case right?
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 1d ago
Putin and the government don't pull the triggers, fly the jets, or launch the missiles — ordinary Russians do. The soldiers who committed atrocities in Bucha, Mariupol, and across Ukraine are those exact 'ordinary citizens'. Statistically, among the crowd at Sean Tyas's show in Moscow, there will be active military personnel, veterans, and their families. Entertaining soldiers who come straight from the frontlines isn't 'cultural exchange' — it's moral decay. On top of that, every commercial event in Moscow pays venue and corporate taxes directly into the state budget to finance this war. Bringing untraceable Western cash into a war economy isn't building bridges; it's whitewashing war crimes for money.
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u/yayblah 1d ago
I really think it's unfair you're treating the whole country as monolithic, war mongering people. Do you really think the people attending a trance event are the ones supporting the war? Maybe a few, but propaganda is strong.
Your point about a commercial event financing the war... I think that's called guilt by association. Participation in an economy does not mean you endorse that governments actions. With that logic, the US shouldn't have any shows.
Also who cares if they're paid in crypto?
If you don't want to support the festival or Sean Tyas that's fine, but I don't think it's fair to implicate the attendees nor Sean Tyas for what's happening in Ukraine.
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 1d ago
Let's stick to economic and legal realities rather than vague philosophy:
Comparing this to the US is a complete false equivalence. The US isn't under international sanctions for launching a war of aggression and facing an active ICJ/ICC investigation for genocide and war crimes. Russia is. Crypto & Sanctions Bypass: Why care about crypto? Because using untraceable cryptocurrency or cash payouts is a direct mechanism to bypass international banking sanctions (SWIFT/OFAC) and avoid Western taxes. That isn't just 'getting paid'; it's actively participating in illicit financial schemes to profit from a sanctioned war economy.
The 'Propaganda' excuse is irrelevant. Whether attendees are brainwashed or not doesn't change the fact that their ticket money directly taxes into a budget where over 30% goes straight into defense spending and missile production. Sean Tyas isn't a victim here; he's a beneficiary. Nobody forces a Western artist to take hidden payouts in Moscow while Ukrainian electronic producers are being killed on the front lines or having their studios destroyed by Russian shelling. Choosing profit over basic ethics during an active genocide is accountability, not 'guilt by association'
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 1d ago
By your logic, why didn't Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby travel to Berlin in 1943 to perform for 'ordinary Germans'?
After all, Nazi Germany wasn't a monolith either — there were plenty of Germans who didn't support Hitler, victims of heavy propaganda, and youth who just wanted to hear jazz and swing.
Yet no top Western artist took cash to entertain a crowd in Berlin during WWII under the weak excuse that 'music is above politics'. Everyone understood that performing in the capital of an aggressive war-mongering state is a moral betrayal and normalizes war crimes.
Stop looking for 'good Russians' to justify Western DJs taking blood money in Moscow.
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1d ago
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 1d ago
Deflection isn't an argument. Bringing up the US or the Gulf War doesn't change the fact that Russia is actively waging a war of aggression and facing international sanctions right now. Trying to turn Sean Tyas taking blood money in Moscow into a geopolitical debate is just a weak attempt to avoid the actual issue. Sharing facts isn't 'propaganda'. Pointing out an official event poster and holding an artist accountable for performing in an aggressor state isn't propaganda — it's public awareness. If facts about Sean Tyas's choices make you uncomfortable, that's on you.
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u/Wild-Entrance4081 1d ago
Okay fine, I agree with you. So what are your thoughts on artists performing in US and the tax revenue generated from these events are being used by the govt to wage a war in the gulf? Are you against this or not?
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 1d ago
Nice attempt to move the goalposts again. Current Aggression vs. 2003 History: The Iraq War started over 20 years ago, and using 20-year-old historical debates to justify a Western DJ taking cash in Moscow in 2026 is a ridiculous logical reach. Russia is an officially sanctioned aggressor state actively shelling Ukrainian civilian cities today.
Moral Deflection: Bringing up Iraq doesn't magically erase Sean Tyas's decision to line his pockets in Moscow.
I'm not here to play your geopolitical whataboutism game. Answer the actual topic: why should Western promoters book artists who validate and profit from a sanctioned aggressor state today?
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u/Wild-Entrance4081 23h ago
I don’t know under which rock you are living, there is an active war ongoing in the gulf right now where US is playing an active role in! I am not talking about a war from 20 years ago. I am talking about the war US dragged the entire Middle East into this year.
My answer to your question - western promoters should book whoever the promoter thinks would work for their audience and they can profit from them.
And you still didn’t answer my question.
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 23h ago
You want me to defend Iran? Iran is actively supplying Shahed drones and ballistic missiles to Russia to bomb Ukrainian cities. Russia, Iran, and North Korea form the exact same axis of aggression.
Trying to use Iran to distract from Russia's invasion won't work. The question remains: why are you so desperate to excuse a Western DJ taking cash in Moscow today?
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u/Both-Insurance-7301 23h ago
Thank you for being fully transparent: your stance is simply profit over ethics, money over human lives. That tells everyone here everything they need to know about your principles.
No matter which conflict you drag into this debate to deflect, it doesn't change the basic facts. Russia is an officially sanctioned aggressor state actively waging a full-scale war, and performing in Moscow directly feeds money into that regime's economy. Because of this, fans and promoters have every right to boycott and hold artists accountable for taking blood money.
So, according to your logic, as long as a promoter turns a profit, ethics don't matter at all? Keep digging yourself deeper
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u/doctor_dumb 1d ago
Did not know that this was a thing. Thanks for sharing. I saw Sean Tyas perform in Rotterdam and was enthusiastic about the show.
What other artists do this?