On May 21, Spotify announced a new feature called “Reserved”. The goal of this upcoming feature is to ensure that the biggest fans of artists get a free ticket to their concerts. It’s being released in light of many fans struggling to purchase tickets to the concerts of their favorite artists. This can often be a combination of the popularity of the artist, as well as an increase in “ticket scalpers”; people who purchase and resell tickets for a profit. These scalpers even use automated bots to out purchase fans for tickets. It is not hard for people to resell tickets themselves, as mainstream platforms like Ticketmaster even have their own features that allow people to resell tickets. 

Spotify’s Reserved is the music platform’s attempt to fix this. By using statistics like streams and shares, the new feature will aim to only give free tickets to fans, and not scalpers. ON top of this, the platform ensures that the people selected won’t be bots themselves. If someone is found to be among the most dedicated fans of an artist, they’ll be given around a day to claim two tickets, receiving both an email and notification in the Spotify app. This feature will only apply to certain selected artists, and be available this upcoming summer. Another requirement for receiving tickets beyond your streaming data will be your location, as you may only be offered them if your location is close to the venue. 

Overall, this new feature is Spotify’s attempt to give back to the most dedicated fans, especially the ones who may feel cheated out of tickets to their favorite artist’s concert. According to Spotify’s article regarding the feature, “Streaming and live music have always gone hand in hand.”