Tag: concerts

Spotify House Rocks Country Music’s Biggest Weekend at Nashville’s CMA Fest

June 13, 2023

Reba McEntire performs onstage at Spotify House during CMA Fest 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Last weekend, Spotify two-stepped its way back to Nashville’s legendary Broadway thoroughfare for the annual CMA Fest. The event, hosted by the Country Music Association, is one of the biggest live-music weekends. It first began as Fan Fair in 1972, and quickly grew to a multi-day festival that rebranded as CMA Fest in 2004. This year, CMA Fest celebrated its 50th anniversary. Over the span of four days, we invited artists and fans to take in the sights and sounds at our Spotify House multi-stage experience.

For the fourth year, Spotify House took over Ole Red, country music star Blake Shelton’s restaurant, bar, and concert venue, to host a four-day experience featuring over 70 artist performances. The star-studded lineup, which included chart-toppers Sam Hunt, Dierks Bentley, Lady A, and Hailey Whitters, made the venue a revolving door of wide-ranging country sounds and blazing-hot talent. Country music legend Reba McEntire made her return to Nashville’s Lower Broadway at Spotify House for the first time in 10 years for the CMA Fest 50th Spotlight Performance, which also featured Billy Currington, Kimberly Perry, and Craig Morgan. Surprise performers from Spotify House included Kelsea Ballerini and Megan Moroney. 

On the fourth floor, attendees enjoyed the Fresh Finds Rooftop, which was presented in collaboration with The Sims. Spotify is teaming up with The Sims over a shared mission to unlock creative potential and support expression in rising creatives. The Fresh Finds stage was back for its second year and gave fans, press, and industry insiders the chance to discover country music’s next wave of independent stars including Wyatt Flores, Payton Smith, Haley Mae Campbell, and Shaylen.    

Throughout CMA Fest, Spotify Mic Check host Lea Palmieri was onsite chatting with many of the country music artists who performed at Spotify House. 

“​​I’ve been here [in Nashville] ten years now. I think the first thing that shocked me about Broadway is how many amazing artists and singers there are, and how accessible music is walking up and down Broadway any given weekend—it doesn’t seem like you could top it. And then CMA Fest rolls through town and you’re like, ‘Wow, what just happened?’ You accidentally stumble into any room down Broadway and you’re going to find somebody amazing.” — Brett Young, on the Broadway atmosphere.

“I mean, that’s the thing with songwriting: it’s all the production. It’s all in how you perform it. So really, I feel like my music has always been very organic and acoustic, not really that pop, even though I’ve been labeled as the pop genre. I feel like being in the country [genre], has a very nice blend and flow and it’s natural for me.” — Colbie Caillat, on her sound and transition to country music.

“We were very intentional about getting the right song and the follow-up to that and just kind of allowing the process to shape itself really, and allowing the songs to show themselves. And so, yeah, it’s been awesome. I really enjoy performing that song. You have to plan your breaths on that song because it’s like spitfire—it’s nonstop.” — Brian Kelley, on his new music and the release of the single “See You Next Summer.”

Get the full scoop on the happenings of Spotify House by tuning into the full episode.

Want more from the weekend? Turn up Spotify’s Hot Country playlist, which also boasts the best, brightest, and on-the-rise country music talent, and check out a photo gallery of the four guitar-strumming, ballad-belting days.

Victoria Monét Kicks Off R&B First Nights, Spotify’s All-New Concert Series

March 31, 2023

Over the years, R&B has been defined by constant evolution. To further support and amplify the genre’s dynamic new artists, we’re launching a concert series, R&B First Nights. 

Through R&B First Nights, Spotify is partnering with rising stars to support their first live show across select U.S. markets, and we’re inviting superfans of the featured artists to attend. To kick things off, singer-songwriter Victoria Monét will be performing her first-ever headlining show tonight in LA.

 

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A post shared by Victoria Monét (@victoriamonet)

The momentum will continue on April 13, when British girl group FLO—recently named one of R&B Rising’s 2023 Artists To Watch—heads to Atlanta as part of their first-ever North American headlining tour.

Artists—along with their fans—rarely forget their first performance in a new city, and Spotify is excited to make that moment even more special. 

Supported by Spotify’s Creator Equity Fund, R&B First Nights further extends Spotify’s commitment to fostering equity in the audio space and celebrating not just the new wave of R&B music, but emerging artists across all genres. 

And this is only the start—stay tuned to our social media channels for more details on upcoming shows for the rest of the year.

Discover the sultry sounds of Victoria Monét by streaming “We Might Even Be Falling In Love (Duet),” her Spotify Single featuring Bryson Tiller, and “Smoke,” her latest single featuring Lucky Daye.

Spotify Takes to the Stage: Connecting Artists With Concertgoers

March 8, 2023

S4A_FTR_Blog_MerchxTicketing

Today at Spotify Stream On, artists, songwriters, podcasters, and authors from around the world joined us for a day of news, networking, and inspiration—and a deeper look into how artists can better connect with their fans on our platform. And what better way to do that than helping fans experience their favorite artists IRL?

Over half of our listeners are unaware of when their favorite artists are in town. Of those users, one in three say they would have gone to the concert had they known about it. So in 2022, we worked with artists, venues, and ticketing partners to list over 840,000 concerts on our Live Events Feed, which is one of our most rapidly growing channels—and our users’ personal gig calendar. We even closed out 2022 by featuring personalized concert recommendations in the Wrapped hub for the first time—across more than 60 languages globally. All this goes further to help artists reach more fans of their music and help fans make sure they never miss a show. 

In 2023, we’re going to keep diving headfirst into concert discoverability.

For artists, this means more places to inform fans about their latest shows and tours. First, we’ll be integrating ticket offers into the “Now Playing” view so artists can grab a listener’s attention right when their music is resonating most. Additionally, artists can spotlight concert dates to the top of their profiles, and soon to their This Is playlists. With these new ticketing features, we’ll not only help artists better promote their shows, but also make sure that Spotify is our listeners’ go-to resource for finding concerts they love.

Fans can make sure they never miss another show with these concert integration opportunities right in the Spotify app:

Live Events Feed: Our main in-app concert destination lets you find concert listings based on your location and favorite artists. You can also adjust your location to browse concerts in other cities and countries, all personalized to your taste.

“Interested” button: Wherever you see a concert listing, you’ll be able to hit the “Interested” button and tag the events you want to attend. That way in the future, you can check in on your personal gig calendar in the Live Events Feed.

Fans First Emails: Make sure you’re following and streaming your favorite artists on Spotify for the chance to be recognized as a top listener—we send Fans First emails and notifications to those engaged users, putting them at the front of the line for special access to concert pre-sales and merch exclusives. 

Of course, no concert is complete without the merch table. While you can currently find your favorite artists’ merch on their profile pages and their album and single pages, we’re also going to start adding it to the “Now Playing” view so you can buy the merch after falling in love with their song.

Find Shows Tailored to You Right in the Spotify App

June 23, 2022

Screens showing the Live Events Feed in the Spotify app

There are few things like going to see your favorite artist in person. The energy, the bass pulsing beneath your feet, the other just-as-obsessed fans belting out lyrics—whether you’re seeing a solo performer or a 15-person ensemble, being in the crowd for the creators you love holds a special significance. These days, avid fans and touring musicians alike are excited to be back out at live events. And if you’re ready to get out there, Spotify is here to help you find the perfect show. 

Some fans already use the Spotify app to look for upcoming shows, but we know we can do more to combine our deep understanding of our users’ tastes with our ability to directly reach them in-app. So we’re introducing a new Live Events Feed, replacing the Concert Hub, and introducing a number of updates to help fans find their favorite creators’ live events. You can find the new feed by searching “Live Events” in the app.