{"id":236211,"date":"2025-07-14T20:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T19:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=236211"},"modified":"2025-07-14T20:54:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T19:54:00","slug":"spotify-could-exit-turkey-amid-government-probe-over-provocative-playlists-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/spotify-could-exit-turkey-amid-government-probe-over-provocative-playlists-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify could exit Turkey amid government probe over \u2018provocative\u2019 playlists (report)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotify could pull its services from Turkey amid escalating tensions with government officials over platform content and alleged anticompetitive practices.<\/p>\n

That’s according to The Times (UK), <\/i>which reported<\/a> on Friday (July 11), citing sources at the streaming platform, that the company is considering all options, including \u201cpausing its operations in the market or exiting Turkey altogether”.<\/p>\n

The report arrived just days after Turkey\u2019s competition bureau launched<\/a> a probe into whether the streaming giant engaged in anti-competitive practices.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

Turkey’s competition authority announced the probe on July 4, saying 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

Batuhan Mumcu<\/b>, Turkey\u2019s Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, slammed the streaming platform\u00a0on X<\/a> the same day, accusing it of hosting \u201ccontent that targets our religious and national values and insults the beliefs of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

Mumcu specifically highlighted \u201cinsidious and provocative, immoral\u201d playlist titles referencing Emine Erdo\u011fan<\/b>, the president’s wife, including “Emine Ergodan hotgirl playlist” and “Songs Emine Erdogan listened to when her golden faucet broke” \u2014 an apparent reference to claims about luxury fixtures in the presidential palace. Other controversial playlists include “Songs Prophet Muhammad listened to in the cave.”<\/p>\n

Mumcu has also accused Spotify last month of not supporting local music, particularly Turkish folk and Arabesque genres. On X, he said<\/a>: \u201cDespite international digital platforms like Spotify having a significant user base in the Turkish market, they have neither established a local representation nor taken responsibility for supporting local music culture.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/figure>\n

He added: “Aside<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> failure<\/span> to<\/span> fulfill<\/span> tax<\/span> obligations,<\/span> prioritizing<\/span> sensation<\/span> over<\/span> quality<\/span> in<\/span> content<\/span> algorithms\u2014promoting<\/span> content<\/span> that<\/span> encourages<\/span> slang,<\/span> violence,<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> use<\/span> of<\/span> prohibited<\/span> substances<\/span> in<\/span> playlists\u2014is<\/span> an<\/span> unacceptable<\/span> choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

In response to the probe, a Spotify spokesperson told<\/a> MBW <\/i>last week: <\/i>\u201cWe are cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution with the Turkish Competition Authority. We comply with all applicable laws in all our operations, but we are unable to comment further as we lack details on the inspection\u2019s scope or focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotify launched in Turkey in 2013, and according to the company’s recent Loud & Clear report, the platform highlighted the rapidly increasing popularity of local artists.<\/p>\n

The share of streams by local artists in Turkey rose from 11%<\/strong> in 2013 to 65%<\/strong> in 2025, while the number of Turkish artists in Spotify\u2019s yearly top 100 grew from 11<\/strong> in 2013 to 93<\/strong> in 2024, Spotify said.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Turkey\u2019s media watchdog warned<\/a> Spotify to \u201cregulate its content\u201d in line with Turkish laws or risk being removed from the market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company is considering all options including \u201cpausing its operations in the market or exiting Turkey altogether,” The Times (UK) reported, citing sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":222667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[134378,134380,108,134377],"class_list":["post-236211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-batuhan-mumcu","tag-emine-erdogan","tag-spotify","tag-turkey"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236211"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236224,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236211\/revisions\/236224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}