Spotify says it\u2019s cooperating with Turkey\u2019s competition bureau in a probe into whether the streaming giant engaged in anti-competitive practices.<\/p>\n
The competition bureau announced the probe the same day that a cabinet minister criticized Spotify<\/strong> on social media for what he described as content that disregards the country\u2019s religious sensitivities and attacks Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/strong>\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a> issued on Friday (July 4), the competition authority said it would examine whether Spotify had violated Turkish law \u201cby engaging in practices that complicate the operations of its rivals in the online music streaming services market and\/or affect the distribution of the royalties paid to various parties within the framework of its licensing relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n It also said Spotify may be \u201cdiscriminating between artists and content creators on the platform in various ways, including their visibility on the platform.\u201d<\/p>\n The same day, Batuhan Mumcu<\/strong>, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, launched a broadside against the streaming platform on X<\/a>, accusing it of hosting \u201ccontent that targets our religious and national values \u200b\u200band insults the beliefs of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n Mumcu said that \u201cSpotify insists on not taking the necessary steps despite all the warnings we have made before\u201d regarding content, and that \u201cthe discrimination and rights violations against our artists have been ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n He specifically called out \u201cinsidious and provocative, immoral content that targets our President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan’s precious wife Emine Erdo\u011fan<\/strong>,\u201d which he said is \u201cincompatible with the cultural and moral values \u200b\u200bof our nation, and targets the unity and solidarity of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n