The digital transformation within the music industry in recent years has paved the way for the emergence of online music streaming platforms, which allow listeners to access desired music works at any time (on-demand music) by either paying a subscription fee or watching advertisements. Those platforms have not only fundamentally changed users’ listening habits but also become a significant component of the competitive dynamics of the music industry. 

Within this framework, the Competition Board concluded the preliminary inquiry conducted about the economic unity composed of Spotify Dijital Yayıncılık Hizmetleri AŞ, Spotify Yönetim Destek Hizmetleri AŞ and Spotify AB and Spotify Technology S.A. (SPOTIFY), which operates in the online music streaming services. In its meeting on 28.08.2025, the Competition Board considered that the information and documents obtained and observations made in the preliminary inquiry were significant and sufficient and took the decision numbered 25-32/758-M in order to determine whether SPOTIFY violated the Act no 4054 concerning the following issues:

• Whether SPOTIFY discriminates between the rightsholders of musical works in the platform with respect to factors such as adding the music works to the platform’s playlist, ranking, visibility and prioritizing by recommendation algorithms and
• With respect to the subscription fees in Türkiye, whether SPOTIFY complicates the activities of its competitors through predatory pricing and/or the activities of the rightsholders of musical works, who earn royalties from the platform’s subscription revenues. 

Respectfully announced to the public.

*Investigation decisions taken by the Competition Board are announced to the public after the decision is notified to the undertakings or associations of undertakings about which an investigation has been opened. Those announcements are made within the framework of informing the public about the decisions of the Competition Board and cannot be interpreted to mean that the undertakings or associations of undertakings under investigation violated the Act no 4054, or they are or will be subject to penal sanctions under the Act.