Spotify adds ‘Follow Venue’ feature to bring live concerts closer to listeners

Over the past couple months, Spotify has pretty much been leaning into intrgrating with live performance. Not too long ago, the company announced tools that allow it integrates with DJ software and before that, it announced concert-related playlists for users.

Now, it's taking things a step further as users can now follow concert venues directly in the app.

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Once you follow a venue, it’s saved in your library just like an artist would be. From there, you can browse through its event calendar, check upcoming concerts, read announcements, and even filter shows by genre. The idea behind this seems to be to make it easier for users to stay updated on what’s happening nearby without leaving the Spotify experience.

Aside that, Spotify is also updating its live event feed more frequently, now refreshed daily instead of weekly, so users get the latest show information as soon as it’s available. When you tap on an upcoming concert, Spotify redirects you to one of its ticketing partners, like Ticketmaster or Live Nation, to make the actual purchase. The company did experiment with selling tickets directly in 2022, but it hasn’t expanded that effort, preferring instead to lean on existing ticketing networks. As mentioned earlier, this isn’t Spotify’s first step into live event discovery. Earlier in the year, the company launched the 'Concerts Near You' playlist, a weekly mix of 30 songs from artists performing in your area. It’s part recommendation tool, part gentle reminder that the people behind your favorite tracks are still performing in front of real audiences. As expected, Spotify isn't the only one trying to make moves like this. SoundCloud, for instance, recently partnered with Ticketmaster and Live Nation to help artists list upcoming shows on their pages. It's clear that both platforms are responding to a broader reality: streaming royalties don’t sustain most artists, and live performances remain one of the few reliable income streams. So while this new “follow venue” feature might seem like a small tweak, it looks like it could be a small part of a new path Spotify is trying to thread. The digital platform is trying to ground its digital platform in the physical world of concerts, tours, and communities.

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