Will digital injustice ever end?

Some of you may remember me discussing the negative impact of music platforms on the music industry, particularly Spotify, a few weeks ago under the heading "Digital Injustice ." The Musical Works Owners' Association (MSG) held a workshop on this topic in June, with the participation of industry stakeholders, highlighting a significant issue. In response, Spotify released a brief statement on social media, stating that it had addressed the criticisms.

Bircan Silan, MSG's press and public relations manager, a former journalist, author, and longtime friend, sent out a press release about the meeting with Spotify after the workshop. I'd like to call her and share the information I received with you.

The issues that came to the fore in the workshop discussed at the meeting are briefly as follows:

Editorial playlist transparency and allegations of manipulation: It was emphasized that Spotify's playlist creation processes require greater transparency. It was stated that allegations of unethical manipulation, such as playlist sales and bot streams, have caused a significant loss of trust in the industry, and therefore, preventative policies must be implemented urgently.

Subscription pricing policies in Turkey: MSG conveyed the music industry's expectations for updated subscription prices. Additionally, the results of a field survey conducted by MSG with 2,000 people, which revealed the habits and trends of music consumers in Turkey, were shared with Spotify officials.

Visibility and Support Projects for Turkish Authors: The meeting also discussed projects aimed at increasing the visibility and support of Turkish authors on digital platforms. In this context, the "Noteable Turkey" project, a Turkey-specific version of Spotify's global "Noteable" program, was proposed. The project proposed developing playlists and promotion mechanisms for Turkish composers, strengthening the representation of local musical genres on the platform, and implementing cultural performance projects such as "Live at Istanbul Studios."

Spotify officials emphasized that they are taking the recent public concerns about content sensitivities and the investigation launched by the Competition Authority very seriously. They stated that they are approaching the process with sensitivity and are comprehensively evaluating all potential scenarios.

As can be seen, Spotify Turkey officials are now in charge. They claim on social media that they've brought two billion lira into the music industry, but they ignore the fact that this amount should be no less than eight billion lira. While the subscription fee in our neighboring Greece is 265 lira and in Bulgaria 225 lira, it's 59.99 lira in Türkiye. Our songs shouldn't be this cheap.

Stay healthy…