Indie / Alternative rock

According to the music critic Murat Beşer, club music (the music people dance on) now turns into indie music (wide definition: it is linked to arts and can include sound tracks of films. Its audience is more educated, but does not consist of students. They are the people with ‘taste’). Its selling rates are not high, but not bad either. In general indie and alternative rock music is rapidly gaining in popularity in Turkey. Concert halls often open their stages to young indie rock music and semi-amateur bands. In world music, Mercan Dede is a famous artist all over the world who combines Sufi traditions with electronic. The band Baba Zula is also popular which combines Turkish folk music with psychedelic and reggae music.          

Pozitif is a 20-year-old organization firm that is behind festivals such as One Love and Rock’n Coke. Their venue Babylon is the hub for cutting-edge artists from Turkey and all around the world.

Cem Gelgün is a drummer and is in the band Balbazar, which specializes in soundpainting (improvisational orchestral music). He knows many people in the funk/rock/world music scene in Turkey.

Gevende is an alternative band that makes psychedelic folk music. They are very experimental and have a large group of followers.