Product review site Engadget is reporting that yesterday, Spotify launched a test website to sell tickets to shows directly to fans. The news comes after Engadet's June 2021 reporting that the acclaimed digital streaming provider was considering expanding its operations into the ticketed events market. The test is being conducted amid an incredibly low-key backdrop, with very little fanfare or announcement from the Swedish firm. Though, notable acts such as Osees and Dirty Honey are among the several acts Spotify is selling tickets for currently. Engadet also reports the tickets are being made available to Spotify through each artist's pre-sale ticket allocation.
Obviously, were Spotify to step into this market permanently, the implications could be significant, as it would create an immediate avenue for bands that want to sell tickets direct to fans, and potentially be another firewall against bots and scalpers that are currently making money hand over fist at the expense of fans.
However, in an indirect way, we may be seeing a broader expansion of internet services writ large. Last week, we reported that TikTok had filed patent requests for something called TikTok Music, which was widely assumed to be a digital streaming platform. If TikTok, for example, were looking to compete with Spotify in the DSP market, the digital streaming behemoth would naturally be motivated to diversify their services also, and concert tickets is a logical jump forward.
Of course, as we've already seen in the concert ticket market already, as firms diversify and become so supremely multi-purpose, the rules of financial fair play seem to loosen and monopolies go virtually ignored, or are given a pass. It remains to be seen what happens of this venture from Spotify going forward, but one thing seems clear: our beloved digital networks appear to be at existential crossroads. A digital mid-life crisis, perhaps?
