Spotify’s reserved ticket sales to music superfans are now going live

Spotify’s move to cater to music’s superfans is now going live. On Thursday, the streaming giant announced the launch of “Reserved by Spotify,” a new system that will identify eligible top fans of an artist, then hold two tour tickets for them before the general ticket sale opens.

The feature will first be available starting today in the U.S. for Premium subscribers (ages 18+). Timed alongside his tour news, Role Model will be the first artist partner to take advantage of the ticket-holding system, and fans will begin to receive notifications about their secured tour tickets starting on June 23, before the general public sale. Spotify said it won’t collect any fees on the transactions.

The feature is only available for artists playing at the Live Nation venues for now, and ticket sales are through Ticketmaster. The streamer said it aims to add more partners over time to include smaller venues as well as international users.

The Reserved system is designed to reward music fans at a time when tickets for new concerts are immediately captured by scalpers using automated tools, which are then resold at a higher price as the event sells out.

For Spotify, Reserved serves as an easy way to encourage paid subscriptions and increase engagement with its app. If fans are getting concert tickets held for them by streaming their favorites, they’re more likely to log on and do just that.

Spotify first announced its plan to cater to superfans in May, noting that it would use signals like streams, shares, and other activity to determine who it considers a real fan. The company also said the platform would monitor activity to ensure that fans don’t game these stats using bots or AI agents.

In other words, it won’t be possible to snag the ticket by endlessly playing an artist’s music over and over — the company will look for signals that you’re still engaging with its app as a normal user would. Or, as Spotify puts it, “leaving music on in the background won’t give anyone a leg up.”

Reserved will also look at the user’s location to ensure they’re near the show before making an offer.

After going live, eligible fans will see a personalized offer on their Spotify Home screen, allowing them to view tour dates, see the Reserved window, and set a reminder to buy the tickets. When the window for the Reserved tickets opens — usually around a day — they can purchase two tickets before they’re on sale to the public.

In addition, Spotify noted that there will be more superfans than there are seats available in many cases, which means not every fan will get an offer of tickets every time.

Role Model, whose tour is reaching 17 U.S. cities and shows, will be the first of “a slate” of additional artists’ tours launching this week, noted Spotify without naming names. The Reserved tickets join others centered around live music, like the recently added support for a beta feature that lets artists upload live performance videos alongside other music videos.