Spotify Announces New Istanbul Office Amidst Growing Interest in Turkish Music

Spotify’s new office in Istanbul has officially opened, as streaming activity grows rapidly in Türkiye. This significant step comes 10 years after initially offering service in the country.

The numbers:

• Turkish music has cleared over 294 billion all-time streams.

• This represents a 190% increase over the last five years.

• 90% of tracks on Türkiye’s Spotify top 50 are Turkish music.

The details:

• The office officially opened on Thursday, June 18.

• The goal of the new branch is to more directly support local artists, labels, and fans.

• Spotify recently faced strife with the Turkish government.

• Türkiye’s competition authority probed Spotify for unfair practices.

• The Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Batuhan Mumcu also claimed Spotify hosted playlists that went against the country’s “religious and national values.”

• However, several Turkish government officials from the same department, including Gökhan Yazgı, Türkiye’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, and Erkin Yılmaz, Director General of Royalties at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, celebrated the opening.

What they said:

• Yazgı: “We see Spotify's decision to increase its presence and investments in Türkiye as a manifestation of its confidence in this land and our music. As a Ministry, we wholeheartedly support all investments in Türkiye's music and culture economy, including the proliferation of local projects that will highlight our artists and special promotional efforts targeting them.”