Music streaming giant Spotify has continued its expansion into the live events space with the recent launch of its new Live Events Feed, which has replaced its Concert Hub feature. Spotify already collects tons of data about listener preferences and uses its algorithms to recommend music and podcasts that users may like, so it makes sense that it would leverage this capability to help fans find live shows as well.
By searching “Live Events” in the Spotify app, fans can now view curated suggestions for live concerts near them. The company notes that the feed is sourced from various of its ticketing partners, including Ticketmaster, AXS, and Eventbrite.
The app will also include other features to help users find out about local shows, such as notifying listeners of an artist’s upcoming shows while they’re listening to that artist’s songs. This is an interesting feature that will help boost awareness for shows because although super fans are likely already aware of upcoming performances, others who may not actively be looking for tickets will be able to easily find out about shows as well.
Sam Sheridan, Product Manager for Live Events Discovery, explained that Spotify’s goal with these updates was to provide an opportunity for fans to stay on top of their favorite artists’ shows without having to leave the app, whereas before they relied mostly on other sites or platforms such as Instagram to search for shows.
“We think the Live Events Feed is an opportunity to help close this loop. This helps ease the burden on fans, reduces the competition artists need to contend with to stand out, and creates new efficiencies around marketing,” he said in a statement.
René Volker, Spotify’s Senior Director of Live Events, noted that now was the ideal time to launch this new and improved feature as the streaming company seeks to better support the live events industry as more and more shows return to in-person.
“Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that fans are aware of all of the upcoming events by the creators they love and creators they may come to love,” she said in a statement. “We believe if we get that right, then we can get more fans to more shows and help artists and venues have better-filled rooms. We’d love to be a part of helping the live music industry recover and, even more importantly to us, helping to grow it in the years to come.”