Spotify Seeking Rights to Show Live Video of Music Festivals (Report)

Why It Matters

By entering the live‑video festival space, Spotify can deepen user engagement, create new advertising inventory, and strengthen its premium offering against rivals like Apple and Amazon, potentially unlocking higher subscription value and revenue growth.

Summary

Spotify is negotiating with concert promoters, including a multi‑year deal with Live Nation, to license live‑video rights for music festivals, adding a new video dimension to its platform that previously offered only live‑audio streams. The initiative coincides with Spotify’s "Reserved" feature, which gives Premium subscribers early ticket access and is funded by "tens of millions of dollars" paid for those rights. The move supports Spotify’s broader push into video to boost engagement and ad revenue, following recent modest growth in ad‑supported revenue to about €385 million (≈ $450.5 million) in Q1 2026. Spotify now serves 761 million monthly active users, including 293 million Premium subscribers, and aims to use live video to differentiate its service and retain paying customers.