Those holding their breath for Spotify to announce the addition of a new livestreaming feature to its platform, prepare to deflate yourselves.
Last month MBW suggested that an obvious next move for Spotify would be virtual concerts, an area which has boomed in music during COVID quarantine.
Renowned reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong recently uncovered evidence that SPOT was indeed working on adding virtual concert-related functionality to its platform.
Today (September 15), Spotify has finally announced something in the space.
According to a blog post published today, Spotify states that it has leveraged its partnership with Songkick – the concert discovery app acquired by Warner Music Group in 2017 – to make a new virtual events listings feature live on its platform.
The listing feature will also pull in virtual concert information from Ticketmaster.
Starting today, all Spotify users will be able to find virtual event listings on artist profiles and in the Concerts hub.
To view listings, users will need to go to the “On Tour” section of an artists’ profile to see their scheduled performances. Full listings can be seen on the Concerts hub.
For artists that have an upcoming event that they want Spotify to share with listeners, they will need to work through Songkick to get these events listed (There is no way to list the event directly through Spotify for Artists).
A select number of Ticketmaster events will also be automatically listed on Spotify.
“We saw this as a great opportunity to broaden our existing partnership with Spotify and adapt our mutual commitment to connecting artists with their fans during these challenging times.”
Bill Ashton, Songkick
As long as the shows are listed through these either Songkick or Ticketmaster, the virtual event itself can be hosted on various platforms including Twitch, Instagram Live, YouTube Live or a hosted website.
Once events are on Spotify, artists can set their virtual event as an Artist Pick.
Spotify will also be sending personalized virtual event recommendation emails “for musicians we know you’ll love”.
Bill Ashton, Managing Director, Songkick said: “Music fans across the world are craving live experiences and the chance to watch their favourite artists perform.
“We saw this as a great opportunity to broaden our existing partnership with Spotify and adapt our mutual commitment to connecting artists with their fans during these challenging times.”
Music Business Worldwide
