Breaking news: Competition Board investigates Spotify

According to the announcement on the Competition Authority's website, the investigation will investigate allegations that it negatively affects competition in the music industry and will focus on Spotify 's strategies in Turkey.

As part of the investigation launched into Spotify, one of the biggest players in the digital music world, complaints that the company makes it difficult for its competitors to do their jobs and discriminates against artists and content producers will also be scrutinized.

It will also examine in detail whether Spotify gave more visibility to some artists, engaged in unfair practices in the distribution of royalties, and thus violated the Law on the Protection of Competition.

The first official statement on the subject came from Spotify.

Spotify stated that they were aware of the investigation launched by the Competition Board and that they were actively trying to understand the process. The statement from the platform included the following statements:

“We are aware of the investigation launched by the Turkish Competition Authority . We are cooperating with the investigation, actively seeking to understand the process, and will work with the Competition Authority to reach a swift and constructive resolution. Spotify conducts all of its activities in compliance with legal requirements, but as we do not have detailed information on the scope or focus of the investigation, we are unable to comment further at this stage.

Our commitment to Turkey is clear: In 2024 alone, we paid over 2 billion TL to the Turkish music industry, comprehensively included Turkish artists, who make up 90 percent of the Turkish Top 50, in our playlists, and played a key role in increasing Turkish artists’ global royalties. These global royalties now account for more than half of the total earnings Turkish artists make on our platform.”