• by Danielle Oster , July 17, 2024

The line from “What’s that song?” to seeing the track performed live in concert just got a little shorter.

Ticket-selling service Ticketmaster announced an integration with the Shazam app used to identify music from audio samples picked up on a users’ cellphone. The feature allows artists to directly link Ticketmaster events with the app, meaning fans just discovering music can be in the know about artist’s upcoming shows.

"I love that you can now Shazam a song and immediately buy concert tickets on Ticketmaster,” pop artist Meghan Trainor said in a statement. “It’s genius!"

The new feature builds on existing integration with platforms including Snapchat and TikTok.  Ticketmaster was the first ticket market app to partner with TikTok in 2022, it claims, and the only one to partner with Snapchat, where users can view upcoming Ticketmaster events via the Snap Map feature.  The suite of integration features allows artists to extend the reach of fans aware of upcoming concerts while they’re on tour, and helps fans avoid the frustration of missing a favorite artist because they weren't aware of the show.

According to Ticketmaster, 42% of fans reported not attending a concert for an artist they wanted to see this year, due to being unaware of the event beforehand.

Ticketmaster, part of the Live Nation Entertainment ticket-selling trust since a controversial 2010 merger, is celebrating the new addition to its distributed commerce partners platform, with a new “Music Finds You” campaign. An ad featuring Trainor shows the feature in action when a college student Shazams Trainor’s hit “To The Moon” and goes to Ticketmaster to find tickets. The “Music Finds You” campaign also includes ads featuring singer-songwriter NIKI, and the group Peach Tree Rascals.

The campaign also acts as a way for the brand to change the conversation and consumer perception with fans who associate it with the company’s mishandling of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour. That fiasco led to a 2023 Senate hearing that saw some rare bipartisan consensus, with both Senate Democrats and Republicans condemning Ticketmaster over its practices, which some called monopolistic, and witnesses testifying that its dominance of the live event marketplace had a detrimental effect on artists, fans, and venues.

“Music For You” arrives on the heels of a subsequent lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice this May against Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation Entertainment, which accused the company of “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry” and seeks to break up what Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter described in a statement as “Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopoly” to  “restore competition for the benefit of fans and artists.”

“Ticketmaster vice president of distributed commerce Dan Armstrong said in a statement. “By seamlessly integrating ticket purchases with moments of musical discovery, we're not only ensuring fans never miss out on unforgettable live shows but also fostering a deeper connection with the artists they love.”