Features
Spotify & Live Nation Partner For Who We Be UK Concerts
Lloyd Winters – Who We Be 2017
Dizzee Rascal and Scope live on stage
A second concert at London’s Alexandra Palace in November is going to be announced soon. Who We Be premiered at the 10,250-capacity venue last year, and sold out. Giggs, Dizzee Rascal, J Hus and Cardi B headlined the inaugural edition. Last year’s premiere of Who We Be was promoted by Spotify’s in-house urban music team together with SJM.
The event is inspired by the Spotify playlist of the same name, which counts more than 250,000 followers. Spotify declined a Pollstar request for more details on the listening data.
New in 2018 is the partnership with Live Nation. Both companies benefit from each other in that the former helps discover the musical trends of tomorrow, while the latter is putting it on stage.
Spotify’s senior editor Austin Daboh said: “Spotify launched Who We Be Live in the UK last November and the response was phenomenal – from the artists, managers, labels, and most importantly, the fans. We knew we had to go even bigger for 2018, and we have! We are so excited to be taking this event to Birmingham, where there is a such a vibrant music scene, as well as bringing it back home to Ally Pally in November.”
Sam Bush, president of U.K. Touring at Live Nation, added: “We are excited to be working in partnership with Spotify on Who We Be Live. This is an event curated for the fans and we have some of the most promising and relevant artists performing in both Birmingham and London later in the year.”
Spotify will be messaging followers of the Who We Be playlist starting Wednesday, April 25, as well as O2 customers with an opportunity to purchase presale tickets. The Live Nation presale begins April 26 at 10 a.m, and the general on-sale launches Friday, April 27.
The ticket price is £22.50 plus booking fee.
In the U.S., Spotify and Live Nation have been partnering since 2017, when they launched the so-called “RapCaviar Live” concert series.