Skip the Queue: Spotify's New Feature Rewards Its Biggest Fans

If you've ever been excited to discover that you're one of your favourite artist's top listeners on Spotify Wrapped, your loyalty could soon be rewarded with an exciting and exclusive perk.

Spotify has recently launched Spotify Reserved, a new initiative designed to give an artist's most dedicated fans early access to concert tickets before they go on general sale. Rather than battling with online queues, searching and purchasing physical album bundles for pre-sale codes or competing with bots and ticket touts, eligible fans will have the chance to purchase up to two reserved tickets during an exclusive purchase window.

What Is Spotify Reserved?

Spotify Reserved is a brand new feature that is currently only available to eligible Spotify Premium subscribers in the United States. The new feature allows participating artists to set aside a limited number of tickets to be sold through Spotify exclusively for their biggest fans before they reach general sale.

According to Spotify, the aim is a very simple one, and that is to reward the people who genuinely support their favourite artists year round by making it easier for them to attend live shows that they might miss out on otherwise.

As Spotify describes it:

"You show up for the artist, Spotify shows up for you."

There are currently no additional fees charged by Spotify for using the feature, and eligible fans receive a dedicated purchase window, currently 24 hours, to purchase their tickets before they're released to the general public.

How Does Spotify Decide Who's Eligible?

Spotify isn't simply looking at who has streamed an artist the most, so don't think having Taylor Swift on repeat for 24 hours, 7 days a week will bag you tickets to her next tour!

Instead, Spotify will use a range of engagement signals to identify an artist's most dedicated listener. While the company understandably won't reveal the full details of its internal systems to help prevent fraudulent streaming activity, it has said that some key factors will include listening habits, shares, saves and other interactions across the platform. It will also take a listener's location into account when assessing ticket eligibility for an artist's tour.

Importantly, Spotify says the system has been designed to prevent abuse. So continuously looping an artist's music or attempting to inflate streaming numbers with bots or AI won't improve your chances for those exclusive tickets!

In Spotify's own words,

“With Reserved, Spotify will be the only audio streaming service where your fandom is rewarded with two tour tickets reserved for fans like you, because real fandom deserves a real seat at the show.“

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How Will Fans Be Notified?

When an artist participating in Reserved announces a new tour, eligible fans who are subscribed to premium will receive both an email and an in-app notification from Spotify.

Those selected will then have a limited time to purchase up to two tickets through Spotify's partners before tickets become available to the general public.

It's worth noting that not every fan will receive an invitation. Availability will vary depending on the artist, venue size, tour and location.

Who Is the First Artist to Use the Feature?

American singer-songwriter Role Model has become the first artist to offer tickets through the new system.

The tour kicks off on September 9th at Hayden Homes Amphitheatre in Oregon before travelling across North America with performances in cities including Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Austin and Los Angeles. The tour concludes on October 18th at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California.

Eligible Spotify Premium subscribers who rank amongst Role Model's top listeners began receiving Reserved ticket offers on June 19th, with those selected having the opportunity to purchase tickets from June 23rd. The feature gave fans early access three days before general sale, which began on June 26th.

Role Model was announced as the first artist to feature in Spotify Reserved

It's no shock that ticket sales have become increasingly competitive in recent years, with the most genuine of fans often facing long virtual queues, inflated resale prices and limited availability. This causes the real fans to lose out of a place at a concert to a bot or tout, and possibly end up having to pay hundreds more from third party resellers.

The core aim of Reserved is an attempt to shift the focus back towards genuine fans rather than whoever can click fastest or pay the most on resale sites. It's also another step in Spotify's growing interest in live music events, building on existing features like Concerts Near You and Venue Search, which already help listeners discover local gigs related to the musicians they love.

For artists, the benefits are just as big. Touring still remains one of the most important ways to build a sustainable career and connect with audiences beyond streaming. By helping real fans secure tickets, Spotify hopes to strengthen that relationship while creating better live experiences.

Could Reserved Expand Beyond the US?

We don't see why not! But for the time being, Spotify Reserved is only available to eligible Premium listeners in the US, and there has been no official announcement just yet regarding an international rollout.

However, if the programme proves successful and the uptake by large artists shows promise, it's easy to imagine Spotify introducing Reserved to other markets in the near future.

For genuine music fans, it's an exciting concept that rewards loyalty in an actual meaningful way and it is a fantastic feature from Spotify that puts loyal fans at its heart. Rather than relying on luck or battling touts, your everyday listening habits and interactions with the artist on Spotify could eventually become your best (and cheapest) chance of getting through the door to their next show.

You can read the full announcement, including Q&A's over on the Spotify Newsroom here