Paying for Elevator Music

 türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Vatan Newspaper, 30 July 2018)


Booked solid for the entire Alaçatı season and cashing in.

In Alaçatı, a vacation spot in Izmir's Çeşme district, some nightclubs
are charging customers a 'music fee' of 50 TL (about $10) (!) and this
has generated controversy in Alaçatı.  Mayor Muhittin Dalgıç says
he hasn't received any such complaints but tourism official Mehmet
İşler confirmed that the fee is being collected at some nightclubs.

İşler explained that a new law has been issued and there is an
arrangment in the law for royalties to be paid, but whether or not
this applies to nightclubs is unclear in the law.  But he added that
people go to nightclubs for the music, in particular, since they can
get alcohol at many other places.  Nevertheless, İşler asserted that
there are some nightclub owners in Alaçatı who, mindful of the
short 2.5 month tourist season, are trying to cash in on the
ambiguity of the law.


Alaçatı is south of Çeşme, far left on the map.