Spotify to Stay in Turkey, Open Istanbul Office, Gov’t Official Says

A nighttime shot of Istanbul, where Spotify intends to open an office in 2026. Photo Credit: Hulki Okan Tabak

Spotify isn’t leaving Turkey after all: Six weeks and multiple twists later, its latest showdown with the nation’s government looks to have blown over.

Word of this newest resolution – recent years have delivered similar public dustups as well – comes from Turkey’s minister of culture and tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. According to the relevant X post, the understanding resulted from a meeting between Spotify higher-ups and Turkish government officials.

Taking a step back for a moment, Spotify was previously accused of engaging in “anti-competitive practices” and neglecting content-moderation obligations in the nation of 85 million. The latter shortcoming, Turkey’s deputy culture minister spelled out on social media, concerned politically and religiously controversial playlist names.

A seemingly more pressing qualm: Spotify’s alleged failure to support the Turkish music scene, referring in part to the service’s lack of a physical office in the country.

As things stand, at least two of the relevant playlists still appear to be live on Spotify, and Ersoy didn’t address the subject in his X post. However, he did tout the platform as “one of the pioneers of the global music industry” and confirmed that the company will establish an Istanbul office next year.

“A significant gap is being addressed: Spotify’s Turkey office is opening. Spotify, which will open an office in Istanbul in 2026, will further deepen collaborations in this field,” reads Grok’s translation of the Turkish-language comments.

Meanwhile, the official also underscored the global reach of Turkish artists – who are said to have generated over half their 2024 Spotify royalties via international streams – and pointed to forthcoming promotional undertakings involving the DSP.

“This strong collaboration, which will also support young talents and female artists, will bring new momentum to our cultural diplomacy,” penned Ersoy. “We will continue to work closely with the Spotify team on this and similar initiatives to promote Turkey’s rich musical heritage and culture to the world.”

Time will tell what these initiatives entail for Spotify, which, despite recently raising prices in a number of markets, doesn’t seem to have upped its monthly subscription charges in Turkey.

And in the bigger picture, the deal follows Spotify’s last-minute agreement to remain in Uruguay towards 2023’s end. Additionally, the service previously started charging more in France due to the implementation of a “streaming tax,” and DSPs are actively pushing back against a similar levy in Canada.