A Death Knell for Tarkan
The Turkish press and Tarkan's on-off relationship has continued for nearly three decades. As well as being the butt of columnists' jokes, the singer has also been criticised for the deterioration of his musical output. Recent news, however, sees the artist named in a copyright issue that has long infected the suffering music industry in Turkey.
Known as Law No. 5846, proposed changes to copyright regulation has been in draft stage for a few years. After the domestic film industry joined forces to pass through a law to give producers greater protection over their ticket revenue last month, eyes have turned to the music industry. News agency Sputnik's Turkish language arm has given the issue wide coverage, with domestic artists wading into the issue of greater legal protections for their works.
It picks up daily paper Sabah columnist Hakan Uç's writings on the issue, where Uç describes the situation of the domestic music industry as "more dire" than the film industry. Sputnik's article focuses on Uç's claims that digitisation has been both a blessing and a curse, in that while it has opened the industry up to a wider, global audience, failure to pass and implement revised laws has seen domestic artists suffer from a lack of protection over their works online.
Also pointing out the unfairness of international artists enjoying copyright protection that currently domestic artists do not, there is the very real danger of music artists in Turkey no longer producing albums until the issue is resolved. Copyright theft in terms of a loss of revenue to the artist stifles creativity and damages the industry as a protective platform for established artists, Uç's column added.
On the back of the Sabah piece, major music labels in Turkey and their artists came out in support of the journalist's views on social media. Comparing the protections afforded to international artists to that of the domestic industry, if something isn't done soon, established music production in Turkey could grind to a halt, Sputnik's coverage suggests. Keen for the draft revises of Turkish copyright law to be passed soon, Tarkan's response to Uç's call for the music industry to follow in the footsteps of film business has been noticeably absent.
Staying silent on the recent buzz over copyright and Uç's column - who recently accused Tarkan of a slight to late photographer Turkish-Armenian Ara Güler - Tarkan's current music label exec Samsun Demir had a lot to say on the issue, however. "Unless something is done immediately, we are going to arrive at a point where we no longer produce albums... Creating protections for our artists' songs enjoyed by those outside of our borders will mean that we can make albums rather than digital singles," Demir said.
Keeping in with the times, music exec Demir stressed that the law needed to be upgraded as soon as possible to allow an industry to thrive that had the potential of making millions more in revenue than it did currently. It's well known that Turkish citizens are into their own kind of music: Nielsen has shown that some 37 million people in Turkey tune in to radio stations every week, with some stats suggesting the radio audience is dwarfed by the potential of an online audience.
Going on a Tarkan Crawl
Catching Tarkan in other news sees the artist kitted out in his luxury minibus. His bespoke luxury vehicle has Italian leather seats and a top range music system imported from Germany, the celeb stories write. Utilising every comfort imaginable to pass the time in Istanbul's traffic, the interior was designed by the artist and took three months to build by 140 expert personnel. (9 February)
Next up, a famous footballer buys his wife a vehicle with a personalised licence plate that once belonged to Tarkan, while a finalist on the Turkish version of The Voice has covered the artist's hit Tarkan's "Şımarık" (Ölürüm Sana, 1997). The cover version accumulated over a 100,000 views following its posting, news wires say. (6 February)
10 Surprising Facts about Aysel Gürel/Molatik
Lyricist of love, the late, great Aysel Gürel is being remembered on her 90th birthday, with Tarkan getting a mention in various news wires about the much-missed dame of popular culture.
UPDATE: Tarkan remembers dame of pop >>
It's no secret that Tarkan has had success with his posthumous collaborations with Gürel. Consummating their musical union, his 2010 song "Sevdanın Son Vuruşu" ("Love's Last Strike") swept the awards board in 2011, while his contribution to the late pop lyricist's tribute album won him an award in 2013 with the track "Firuze" (Firouzeh).
Keeping Gürel's indomitable spirit for life alive, she is being remembered by fan and celebrity alike. (7 February)
In an interview with Turkish male artist Cenk Eren, he recollects how upon hearing Tarkan had been nominated for a tribute album he knew that he had no chance of winning after being nominated in the same category at the Golden Butterflies. Nominated in 2016, Tarkan had accepted an award for Best Project Album for his tribute record to classical Turkish music "Ahde Vefa". (28 January)
Getting a full fifteen minutes of fame, a masked YouTuber rummaging through Turkish pop's historical trash has said in an interview that one of the most requests he gets is to do a video piece on Tarkan. Labelling it his mission to air the "dirty laundry" of pop's Turkish counterpart, Turkish Youtuber Şokopop has been making videos about celebrity duels and scandals to a sizeable following on the streaming video site. (20 January)
In a Romanian article, Romanian model, fashion designer and media personality Cătălin Adrian Botezatu has been called "the Tarkan of Romania", while Tarkan himself has made the news again for supporting Izmir, olive groves and the natural habitats of Turkey.
An article in Turkish daily Posta claims the singer has bought 60,000 TL worth of organic oil from the Aegean region to help support its production - an area he is rumoured to have close political ties. (1 February)
Reaching into the annals of Tarkan's past with rare TV interviews finally, the TV talk show host who hosted Tarkan in 1994 has joked how he must have put Tarkan off for life from TV interviews - as it became one of the few rare appearances the singer has given throughout his career. (1 February)
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posted by Tarkan Deluxe at 3:06 pm
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