Spotify will now list virtual events on artist pages

The ongoing pandemic means that real-world concerts — the kind with people packed together, waving their hands and screaming their lungs out — are few and far between. Spotify has clearly noticed this and decided to spruce up the mostly-empty ‘On Tour’ area that lives on artist pages. Starting today, any kind of virtual event can show up there too. Musicians will need to set up the listing through Songkick, but the livestream itself can be hosted on popular platforms such as Twitch, YouTube and Instagram. According to Spotify, a “select number of [presumably virtual] Ticketmaster events” will also appear automatically in the On Tour section.

Virtual events are also being added to Spotify’s dedicated Concerts hub (if you can’t find it, just search for “concerts”), which could help a few bored souls find something interesting to watch online. It’s a smart way to promote live podcast recordings, at-home or in-studio performances, and interactive Q&A sessions. Spotify is a massive platform, and many of its 299-million-strong userbase want to know what their favourite artists are up to at the moment. Virtual events have proven themselves to be not just a valuable source of entertainment, but also a critical way to support artists while they wait for physical concerts to come back without restrictions.