- Spotify rolls out its priority scheme for booked concerts in the US
- ROLE MODEL is the first partner artist, with more to follow
- ‘Top fans’ are determined based on overall engagement with Spotify, which raises questions about who the true fans really are
A few weeks ago, Spotify unveiled Reserved, its new priority system that gives top fans first choice of tickets to see their favorite touring artists – and it’s finally going live in the US today (June 18).
Premium subscribers over the age of 18 will be eligible for reserved access, which has come out of Spotify’s partnership with Live Nation, powered by Ticketmaster. To kick off the new arrangement, singer ROLE MODEL will be the first official artist partner, having just announced her US tour.
Starting today, listeners will receive notifications informing them if they meet Spotify’s criteria and qualify as a ‘top fan’ of ROLE MODEL. From there, Spotify will reserve two tour tickets for eligible fans to purchase within a 24-hour window before tickets go on sale to the general public.
In addition to push notifications, Spotify says it will notify you if you’re a top fan via email and pop-ups in the ‘Your Updates’ section of the Spotify app. The platform recommends that your live event notifications are turned on and that you ensure that your app is up to date.
If you wish to claim your reserved tickets, press the ‘Buy Now’ button when your purchase window opens. Once you have selected your tickets, you will be taken to Ticketmaster, where you can complete your purchase.
According to Spotify’s announcement, the platform says that if prompted, you must link your Spotify account to your Ticketmaster account to confirm your reserved entry. As for availability, Spotify notes that “Reserved allocations include a range of seating and prices, and specific availability varies by show,” adding the following:
“For some high-demand shows, you may be queuing before you reach the ticket selection page. No matter what, two tickets on the tour will be held for you throughout your sales window. Each show has its own availability, so if you reach the end of a queue and your preferred seats are sold out, you still have the option of purchasing other tickets”.
When the purchase window closes, unclaimed reserved tickets are released to the next most dedicated fans, and Spotify notifies them in the same way.
How do I know if I’m on the list?
This is the burning question we all want the answer to, and in short, there’s no way to know if you’ve met Spotify’s criteria until you receive a reserved notification.
In deciding who qualifies as a ‘top fan’, Spotify doesn’t just take into account the number of times someone has streamed an artist. For the platform, it’s all based on engagement, meaning it takes into account shares, saves and your overall streaming history with the artist. “There is nothing random about who gets chosen!” Spotify claims, but the company is keeping its cards very close to its chest.
While the company says it uses the above to measure engagement, it refrains from disclosing all the details of how it determines who the best fans are. This is because Spotify wants to avoid strategic engagement and prioritize authentic fandom (it also clarifies that relying on background listening to bump up streams won’t get you on the list).
While you can buy tickets for any date on an artist’s tour, regardless of where you are, Spotify takes your location into account when determining who the best fans are – which is a huge pain point. So if an artist is touring a city not far from you, you’ll be more likely to receive a reserved notification, which is a punch in the gut for megafans living in the sticks. Then there is the matter of fandom itself.
While I think Reserved could be a good preventative measure to stop ticket scalpers, there’s always a chance it could make fan culture even more of a battleground for people to prove themselves as ‘real’ fans and get bragging rights, when fandom has always been a place of community and not competition.
Does this mean that those who stream an artist to the ends of the earth are ‘bigger fans’ than those who engage in other means outside of Spotify, for example by investing in physical music that goes directly into the artist’s pocket? Will Reserved solve a legitimate problem plaguing fans, or is it just a badge of honor?
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