Spotify adds Reserve Tickets, UMG feature

Spotify used its May 21 investor-day rollout to push deeper into live events and fan creation, announcing a new ticket-access product called Reserved and a new Universal Music Group-backed tool for fan-made covers and remixes. The company said Reserved will set aside two tour tickets for listeners it identifies as top fans, while the UMG feature will let eligible Premium users create remixes and covers from participating artists’ catalogs. Spotify described the remix product as a paid add-on for Premium subscribers. The announcements were amplified again in industry discussion on May 23, including in a Hypebot roundup on X. ### How does Reserved work? Spotify said Reserved is designed to reward fandom with access to “two tour tickets reserved for fans like you.” In its May 21 post, the company said it will identify eligible users based on “streams, shares, and other Spotify activity,” and will also monitor Premium-user activity to make sure the accounts are “real human fans and not bots.” Spotify already runs artist presale and merch emails, but its support page says those offers are open to anyone with a Spotify account and do not require Premium. (newsroom.spotify.com) Reserved is narrower: the new product is framed as a specific allocation of tickets held back for fans chosen through Spotify activity data. ### Is this the same thing as Spotify’s existing concert tools? Spotify has long offered concert discovery inside the app. (newsroom.spotify.com) Its concerts page and support materials show users can browse tour dates, local events and ticket links through Spotify’s live-events features, including the “Concerts Near You” playlist that updates weekly. The May 21 announcement adds a new layer on top of that discovery business. Rather than only sending users to ticketing partners, Reserved gives Spotify a direct role in deciding which fans get access to a small block of seats. (newsroom.spotify.com) Spotify did not say in the announcement how many artists or tours would participate at launch. ### What exactly did Spotify and UMG announce on remixes? Spotify and Universal Music Group said on May 21 they had signed recorded-music and music-publishing licensing agreements that will enable a new tool for fan-made covers and remixes. (open.spotify.com) The companies said the product will work with songs from “participating artists and songwriters,” and Spotify called it a “groundbreaking responsible AI tool.” (newsroom.spotify.com) The same announcement said the remix feature will launch first as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium users. Spotify and UMG did not name pricing in the post surfaced in search results, and they did not list participating artists in the announcement excerpt. ### Why is UMG involved here? Universal Music Group is central because Spotify said the new product depends on fresh licensing agreements covering both recorded music and publishing rights. (newsroom.spotify.com) That structure matters for remixes and covers because the use of underlying songs and recordings can involve multiple rights holders. Spotify and UMG said the tool will only apply to participating artists and songwriters. The May 21 release builds on an earlier January 26, 2025 expansion agreement between Spotify and UMG that the companies said was focused on growth, innovation and artist and songwriter success. ### What comes next for users and artists? Spotify said Reserved and the UMG remix product were part of its investor-day product slate announced on May 21. The company’s wording indicates rollout will depend on participating tours for Reserved and participating artists and songwriters for the remix tool, with Premium eligibility attached to the initial remix launch. (newsroom.spotify.com) Spotify’s newsroom and in-app live-events surfaces are the places where further rollout details are most likely to appear. (newsroom.spotify.com) As of May 23, the company had published the two announcements but had not, in the materials reviewed, disclosed a public launch date for Reserved availability by artist or pricing for the remix add-on. (newsroom.spotify.com)