- Spotify is keeping an eye on live concert streaming
- It is part of the company’s strategy to shift more to video content
- YouTube is still the leader on the live streaming front and I think it will be tough competition
Spotify is doing everything it can to move beyond just being an audio platform — now it’s going to offer live concert videos to subscribers, and I’m not sure how to feel about that.
According to Bloomberg, the audio streaming giant plans to become “a hub for live music” and has reached out to concert promoters to secure licensing rights to broadcast live videos of music festivals directly from the Spotify app.
Spotify recently experimented with concert videos, adding a series of pre-recorded music videos from Dua Lipa’s show in Mexico City, accompanied by a live album released by the artist. Additionally, the Primavera Sound festival took place in Barcelona over the weekend, which has gained considerable popularity and following online in recent years – so it makes sense why Spotify would want to capitalize on this.
The move to live concert broadcasting reflects Spotify’s evolving plans to become a pipeline between artists and their most dedicated fans. A few weeks ago, Spotify unveiled its new in-app tool Reserved, a concert ticket reservation tool that aims to give legitimate fans top priority to secure tickets to their favorite musicians’ live shows. On the other hand, the move to live concert streaming plays into Spotify’s broader video revenue strategy.
Spotify first started out as an audio-only service, but over its 20-year lifespan it has rolled out many visual components, from short-form content feeds to music videos and even video podcasts. Not only have these helped boost subscriber engagement levels, it’s also established a more profitable means of ad revenue that Spotify doesn’t quite get through its audio content, and this is reflected in the company’s latest quarterly earnings, which Bloomberg highlights.
In the first quarter of the year, Spotify’s overall ad revenue saw a decline — The Next Web reports that it fell 5% year-over-year to €385 million (about $443 million) — so adding more video content means higher ad rates and a better chance of growing those profits.
That said, some see Spotify’s move into live concert streaming as just another means of cutting into artist streaming revenue — but that’s not the first concern that came to mind.
YouTube, always and forever
Spotify’s video offerings are not my favorite ways to interact with music. Compared to Apple Music, I find Spotify’s music video interface disorganized and almost forced upon you while listening to audio (I never use the ‘Switch to Video’ button).
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, YouTube is still the holy grail of visual music content, even if Spotify is still doing everything it can to compete. You have to hand it to Spotify though, its drive is undeniably admirable, but competing with YouTube is like trying to shade the sun.
In addition to its plethora of pre-recorded live music channels (I watch a lot of NPR Tiny Desk concerts as well as artist music videos), YouTube plays a big role in bringing fans closer to the biggest music events around the world. This is especially the case for the Coachella music festival in California, which I’ve been streaming on YouTube since I was 17.
Spotify has a lot on its plate, and for its live concert broadcasts to stand out, it needs to match or completely defy what YouTube has. On top of this, there’s also the question of where in the app these broadcasts will be located – the app is already bulky as it is, so a brand new live stream interface would be a bit of a squeeze.
That said, I can see the minor user benefits. Depending on which artists sign this deal, it could give music fans a higher quality and more robust way to consume live concert content as opposed to relying on watching videos posted on TikTok or Instagram reels.
Right now, my feed is flooded with content from Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine tour, which kicked off this weekend, and it’s making me regret not buying tickets. I have no problem watching clipped videos on social media, but now that I think about it, having a live stream of the show available from start to finish would be great background viewing/listening. But let’s be real, Netflix works much faster to make deals with artists for live concert footage, and it’s basically the same thing.
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