Spotify has quietly launched a new website where fans can buy tickets to the concerts of their favorite artists directly from the streaming platform. There is no fanfare around Spotify tickets’ launch, as it is strictly a test product at the moment and it only sells presale tickets for a limited number of upcoming artist events. The portal’s debut artists include Limbeck, Annie DiRusso, Dirty Honey, Crows, TOKiMONSTA, Four Year Strong and Osees. According to MusicAllythe tickets Spotify starts selling today will come from the artists’ presale allocations for upcoming concerts.
The music streaming service already has an in-app Live Events Feed where it links to ticketing partners including Ticketmaster, AXS, DICE, Eventbrite and See Tickets. As TechCrunch Notes, the events listed on the new website are not yet available in the Live Events Feed, but that may change in the future. The official Spotify Tickets support page says the company sells tickets on behalf of event partners, such as venues, event promoters, fan clubs and artists themselves. That means those partners set the prices of the tickets, but Spotify charges a booking fee that it promises to make clear to buyers before they hit the purchase button.
The service could become an important revenue stream for artists who prefer to sell their own tickets. It can also ensure that tickets are bought by true fans and not scalpers. The service’s support page states that buyers may not “resell, assign, or transfer” tickets except in certain states. And since buyers must present a government-issued ID to gain entry to an event, they must transfer ownership of a ticket if they decide to sell it. The process is quite complicated and requires merchants to contact Spotify to change the name associated with a ticket.
Spotify told us it doesn’t have much to share at the moment, as the service is just a test. There is currently no official launch date – or even guarantees that it will get out of the testing phase – for the product. The spokesperson said: “At Spotify, we regularly test new products and ideas to improve our user experience. Some of them pave the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as important lessons. Tickets.spotify.com is our latest test. No further news to share at this time about future plans.”
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