Spotify said Turkey is a "priority market" and has pledged to amplify the voices of female and emerging artists in Turkey.
Spotify has confirmed it will open an office in Turkey, saying the country is a “priority market”, following a spat between the streaming giant and the Turkish government.
Spotify said it will open an office in Istanbul by the end of June, saying “opening an office in Istanbul is not a symbolic move for Spotify, it’s a structural one”.
It added: “Turkey is a priority market for us, and deepening our presence reflects our long-term commitment to the country’s music ecosystem, its creators, and its culture.”
The Turkish government has previously confirmed the opening of the office.
The Swedish streaming giant has also appointed long-term Spotify executive Akshat Harbola to oversee its Turkish operations and said that its Turkish office will scale this year, appointing new staff.
Spotify pointed to figures showing that Turkish music was seeing strong growth, with 52m users outside Turkey listening to Turkish-language tracks in 2025, with export streaming up over 160 per cent since 2020.
Spotify, which launched in Turkey in 2013, has also pledged to amplify the voices of female and emerging artists in Turkey.
Spotify’s commitment to Turkey follows last year’s spat between Spotify and the Turkish government, which saw Spotify threaten to pull out of Turkey in a row over playlists that ridiculed president Erdogan’s wife and, in particular, her claimed lavish spending.
The Turkish government accused the streaming platform of hosting “content that targets our religious and national values and insults the beliefs of our society”. It also accused Spotify of not supporting local music.
The Turkish government demanded that the Swedish streaming company open a physical office in the country and the competition authority opened an investigation into whether Spotify engaged in anti-competitive practices.
However, the spat appeared to have been resolved following a meeting between the Turkish government and Spotify executives.
Spotify has previously had an office in Turkey but it is understood to have closed in 2018.