Spotify will remain in Turkey and establish an Istanbul office by 2026, ending weeks of speculation about a potential exit from the market amid government pressure.
The resolution, announced by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy via social media on Tuesday (August 19), emerged from meetings between Spotify executives and Turkish officials.
“In our meeting with Spotify, a pioneer in the global music industry, we made decisions on important steps. We will make concrete progress quickly to ensure our country’s music ecosystem receives the support it deserves from Spotify,” the minister’s translated post stated.
The minister added: “A Spotify Turkey office, a key area of need, is opening. Spotify, which will open an office in Istanbul in 2026, will further deepen its collaborations in this area.”
Ersoy added that the company will work with the government in supporting Turkey’s music ecosystem and launching a music summit in September. The minister noted that Turkish artists reached 2.8 billion new listeners in 2024.
“A Spotify Turkey office, a key area of need, is opening. Spotify, which will open an office in Istanbul in 2026, will further deepen its collaborations in this area.”
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkish Minister
The announcement follows weeks of escalating tensions that began when Turkey’s competition authority launched an investigation into Spotify’s business practices on July 4.
The probe is looking into whether Spotify violated Turkish law through practices that “complicate the operations of its rivals” and affect royalty distribution for artists and creators.
Turkish officials also accused Spotify of hosting content that insults religious and national values.
Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Batuhan Mumcu criticized playlist titles referencing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s wife, Emine Erdoğan, including “Emine Erdogan hotgirl playlist” and references to luxury fixtures in the presidential palace.
Other controversial playlists included “Songs Prophet Muhammad listened to in the cave,” which drew particular criticism from government officials. Mumcu also criticized Spotify for allegedly promoting content with violence and substance use while failing to support Turkish folk and Arabesque music genres.
The dispute escalated last month when The Times (UK) reported that Spotify was considering withdrawing from Turkey entirely. The newspaper cited sources as saying that the company was considering all options, including “pausing its operations in the market or exiting Turkey altogether.”
Such a move would affect both Spotify and Turkish music industry.
As MBW previously reported, data from Spotify suggests that the share of its streams by local artists in Turkey rose from 11% in 2013 to 65% in 2025, while the number of Turkish artists in Spotify’s yearly top 100 grew from 11 in 2013 to 93 in 2024,
Minister Ersoy said: “We will continue to work closely with the Spotify team on [the music summit] and similar initiatives that will showcase Turkey’s rich musical heritage and culture to the world.”
The latest development comes as Spotify recently announced price hikes in numerous markets outside the US including South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
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