Spotify Introduces ‘Reserved’ for Superfans Amid Ticket Access Concerns

Concertgoers often struggle to obtain tickets to their favorite artists’ tours due to scalpers and high resale prices. Spotify now aims to address this issue with a new program for superfans of select artists.

Introducing ‘Reserved’

The streaming service announced ‘Reserved,’ a program that identifies the most engaged listeners of an artist and sets aside two seats specifically for them at a concert. This initiative is an extension of Spotify’s current presale access for fans of top-streamed artists. However, unlike the presale queue, these tickets are exclusively reserved for certain users.

We’ll identify real fans based on factors like streams, shares, and other Spotify activity, and will also monitor the activity of Premium users to ensure these are real human fans and not bots,” the platform said in a statement Thursday.

Spotify has clarified there will be no additional fees from its side, and selected users will have a full day to purchase their reserved tickets.

Restrictions and Eligibility

The program is not without limitations. Only legal adults with a paid Spotify Premium subscription can qualify for a reservation. Additionally, offers are limited to events in the user’s local area. Spotify cautions that there might be more superfans than available seats on a tour.

Drawing Parallels with Taylor Swift

This fan-engagement model bears similarity to Taylor Swift’s 2018 ‘Reputation’ stadium tour sales. Swift employed Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system to offer presale opportunities, boosting fan placement through streaming, video watching, purchasing merchandise, and social media engagement. Fans later hoped for the system’s return following a difficult Ticketmaster experience during her ‘Eras Tour’ presale in 2022.

Wider Industry Concerns

Spotify’s launch comes amid broader concerns within the live entertainment sector over high ticket prices, resellers, and Ticketmaster’s significant market influence. Recently, Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, resolved an antitrust case with the Justice Department. This case accused Live Nation of anticompetitive behavior, which resulted in higher fees due to limited ticketing service options.

To settle, Ticketmaster will allow third-party companies such as SeatGeek and StubHub access to its platform for distributing primary tickets. Additional terms include capping service fees at 15%, divesting up to 13 amphitheaters, and reserving 50% of tickets for nonexclusive venues, as per a senior Justice Department official.

Artist Responses to Ticketing Issues

Artists like Harry Styles, Oasis, and Ed Sheeran have previously canceled tickets linked to scalpers, reallocating them to fans at reasonable prices to combat resellers. Despite these efforts, both face-value and resale prices remain prohibitive for many fans, experts pointed out to NBC News.

Platforms like Ticketmaster highlight unsold tickets with ‘blue dots.’ Experts suggest that ‘blue dot fever’ may have led to numerous concert cancellations, even if artists don’t publicly admit it. The Pussycat Dolls openly cited ticketing issues when canceling U.S. dates of their reunion tour. Ticket buyers received refunds via the ticketing platforms. The group stated, “After taking an honest look at the North American run, we’ve made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to cancel all but one of the North America dates.”