Türkiye opens Spotify probe after ‘provocative playlist' complaint
In a statement released on Friday, the competition authority said it had opened an investigation into 'various allegations that the strategies and policies implemented by Spotify... in Türkiye has caused anti-competitive effects in the music industry'.
It said the probe would seek to establish whether Spotify gave more visibility to some artists and engaged in unfair practices in the distribution of royalties, thereby violating the competition law.
The investigation was announced the same day as deputy culture minister Batuhan Mumcu called for legal action against Spotify in a post on X, citing its 'refusal' to respond to requests to remove playlists with names deemed offensive.
'Spotify persistently refuses to take the necessary steps despite all our previous warnings,' he wrote.
'Content that targets our religious and national values and insults the beliefs of our society has not been corrected,' he added, saying Türkiye had been 'closely monitoring content on Spotify for a long time'.
'Targeting... sacred values'
He pointed to content published 'under the guise of 'playlists'.. that disregards our religious sensitivities toward our Prophet Mohammed, deliberately and unacceptably targeting the beliefs, sacred values, and spiritual world of our people'.
He also singled out playlists allegedly targeting Emine Erdogan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which were 'insidiously provocative and morally unacceptable'.
'This irresponsibility and lack of oversight, which disregards the sensitivities of our society, has now become a legal matter.. I call on our competent institutions to take action,' he wrote.
Attached to his post was an animated graphic showing a string of playlists with names referencing either Erdogan's wife or the life of the Prophet Mohammed.
In a statement, Spotify, which launched in Türkiye in 2013, said its operations complied with 'all applicable laws' but it would cooperate with the investigation although it lacked 'details on the inspection's scope or focus'.
'We are cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution with the Turkish Competition Authority,' the statement said, without making any mention of the playlist allegations.
It said in 2024, it had paid 'over 2 billion Turkish lira ($25 million) to the local music industry' with its service playing a 'pivotal (role) in growing Turkish artists' royalties globally'.
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Vancouver Sun
4 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
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Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. But what really caused my head to spin was an essay published last month by political and cultural thinker and writer Rod Dreher, and a longtime personal friend of J.D. Vance, titled 'The Radical Right is Coming for Your Sons,' where he makes the case for why ignoring the bigots in our midst is perilous, for both the left and right. Chui Yang and Mitch Murray are card-carrying conservative, post-secondary students in Calgary, and I'm grateful they are open to meeting at the University of Calgary campus for an on-the-record conversation about these unnerving questions. Mitch, 19, is a first-year finance major at Mount Royal University who aspires to study and work abroad, and Chui, 20, just completed year three of a history/poli sci degree and aims to get into government relations in support of Alberta's oil and gas sector. 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Winnipeg Free Press
13 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Brazil hosts BRICS summit, eager to avoid provoking Trump's ire
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CBC
16 hours ago
- CBC
How a Canadian's AI hoax duped the media and propelled a 'band' to streaming success
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Then, a man calling himself Andrew Frelon told Rolling Stone, in an article that was published online later that day, that he is behind The Velvet Sundown and the X account, and that he used generative AI platform Suno to create the songs. He called the project an "art hoax." WATCH | Expert speaks on AI regulation: Why more needs to be done to regulate the use of AI 1 year ago Duration 6:07 New research out of Western University is shining a light on the federal government's use of artificial intelligence through a Tracking Automated Government Register. Joanna Redden, an associate professor of Information and Media Studies and co-director at Starling: Just Technologies. Just Societies. and Data Justice Lab, joined London Morning to talk about the data and concerns about AI use. But just as the mystery appeared to be solved, a different X account linked to the official Velvet Sundown Spotify page posted a statement saying Frelon has nothing to do with the band. "Someone is attempting to hijack the identity of The Velvet Sundown," said the statement, which also appeared on the band's Spotify and Instagram accounts on Thursday. That same day, Frelon, who gave the Rolling Stone interview, posted a lengthy blog confirming he had nothing to do with the band and that nearly everything he told the magazine, including his name, was a lie. The actual band's identity was once again a mystery. It turned out the hoax was, in fact, part of a bigger hoax. 'It's too fascinating of a mystery' Speaking with CBC News on Friday, Frelon maintained that he has "zero" connection to the Velvet Sundown. Asked about his motivation for maintaining such a complicated ruse, Frelon said the way the whole thing has played out has become like "artistic jet fuel." "There's so many weird cultural, technical things at play here. It's too fascinating of a mystery for me to turn away from," he said. The real person behind Andrew Frelon is an expert on web platform safety and policy issues, with extensive experience using generative AI. He was born in the United States but lives in Canada. Several major American publications have interviewed him about his other AI projects and safety and policy issues work. CBC News verified his identity through screen shots and a Signal video chat. Frelon sent screen shots of his correspondence with Rolling Stone to confirm he was the person who did that interview. Frelon said he attempted last year to monetize his own AI music project with a friend. Certain that The Velvet Sundown was generated by AI, and surprised by its seemingly overnight success, he decided to become the band's de-facto publicist as a "social engineering" experiment. To further sow confusion, Frelon shared posts made by the official Velvet Sundown X account, to intentionally make it look like it was connected to the account he runs. He also generated and posted AI "photos" of the band in various settings and scenarios, and said he used ChatGPT when initially responding to reporters. Part of his intention with the Velvet Sundown experiment, he said, was blurring reality and trying to see how diligently members of the media would work to verify his identity. "I'm really exploiting the uncertainty," he said. "And I think that's the art." His experiment also highlighted the ease of creating deceptive content and the speed with which it spreads. Frelon said he ultimately hopes to advance the conversation around generative AI, and its risks and benefits. WATCH | Performers want protection against AI: More than 200 performers plead for protections against unethical AI 1 year ago Duration 2:02 More than 200 performers, including Sheryl Crow and the estate of Bob Marley, have written a letter pleading for protection against the unethical use of artificial intelligence, such as the unauthorized reproduction of their voices and likenesses. In the process, however, he said he's received a flood of hateful messages and acknowledged that the prank has upset some people. "I didn't mean to do it maliciously, although obviously some of the techniques I used were underhanded and not very cool," he said. "I recognize that, and I apologize for those people affected." Frelon's hoax supercharged The Velvet Sundown's success; the band's audience has grown by about 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify since his hoax started, hitting one million on Saturday. In yet another twist, the band's official X account admitted on Saturday to its use of AI after playing coy for weeks, saying in a social media statement it is a "synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence." It is still not clear who is behind The Velvet Sundown, and its X account has not responded to interview requests from CBC News. Frelon said he received a message from The Velvet Sundown's X account on Saturday, insisting he rename his account and delete all references to the band being "100% human-generated." Frelon's X page is now marked as a "parody" account. AI 'bands' infiltrate streaming platforms AI-generated electronic music, and AI songs mimicking existing artists, have become commonplace, but AI "bands" are a newer phenomenon. Laszlo Tamasi, the man behind hard-rock act The Devil Inside, which has millions of Spotify streams, admitted in June he uses AI to make the music and generate the band's imagery, after fans and music writers raised questions. Other popular artists, like "dark country" act Aventhis and provocative soul singer Nick Hustles, have similarly been revealed to be AI creations with behind-the-scenes input from humans. Nova Scotia-based singer-songwriter Ian Janes, who had his own battle with AI music after a seemingly AI-generated project popped up on Spotify using his name, said in some ways, the music industry has set the stage for an AI takeover by relying so heavily on technology-assisted techniques like quantizing and pitch-correcting. He said listeners have become so accustomed to technology-aided "perfection" in recorded music that when they hear an AI-generated song, it might seem indistinguishable from something made by real people. Conversely, when a human voice goes out of key, or a song speeds up or slows down, people might perceive that as an error. "The conditioning of our ears to algorithmic perfection in music has set the stage for AI to be poised to just take that job from us," Janes said. The Velvet Sundown initially raised suspicions in part because its name seemed derivative of acts like the Velvet Underground and Sunset Rubdown, and its song titles and lyrics also seemed to lack originality. Its most-streamed song, Dust on the Wind, for example, recalls the 1977 Kansas hit Dust in the Wind. But Alexander Olson, a senior research associate at the University of Toronto's faculty of applied science and engineering who researches AI, said it's becoming increasingly challenging for the average person to identify AI in all mediums. WATCH | How artificial intelligence impacts creative industries: How is AI affecting the creative media industry? 1 year ago Duration 10:10 "It's made even harder in this setting, because a lot of people are relying on Spotify to choose songs for them and to make those recommendations," he said. Winnipeg-based music critic Darryl Sterdan calls the Velvet Sundown's music "generic" and "forgettable," and said AI is not yet at the point where it can reproduce the soul and "indefinable humanity" behind worthwhile songs. But he predicts it won't be long before AI generates a genuine chart-topping global pop hit, ultimately forcing institutions like the Grammys and Junos to "formally reward" AI creations in a bid to remain relevant. "Then, the deluge will truly begin," he said.
