With the announcement of Pandora’s partnership with Ticketfly to enable in-app ticket purchases, it appears that streaming services have started to realise that they can’t survive on music listening alone.
Spotify has deals in place with Songkick and Merchbar, and other services will likely follow suit over the course of the coming year.
While these steps are laudable and needed, they are only the tip of the iceberg. For streaming services to survive and thrive, as well as compete with one another, they need to greatly expand their commerce offerings.
Fans want to see their favourite artist live. So it makes sense to have ticketing as part of your commercial offering.
However, there are only so many shows any one band can play, and many of those shows are one or two night stands in each city — so if a fan doesn’t happen to be available on those exact nights in their market, they are out of luck.
If a fan lives in a market where a band is likely never to tour, they might feel dejected and turn away from other opportunities to engage. Offering band merch in the app is also a great first step, but that is often limited in terms of what a band will offer, and for older fans, wearing a band’s t-shirt might feel a little silly.
Music apps need to expand the scope of their commerce opportunities, both as a service to fans and artists.
Think of how many artists are now associated with a unique style; partnered with fashion brands or retailers to curate shops and get an affiliate fee every time someone buys items from their in-app store.
It could also serve as a great discovery mechanism — fans might start browsing stores and wind up listening to music and buying concert tickets.
White label music streaming apps created for brands are uniquely positioned to do this well. Because people associate the brands with consumer goods, they’are likely be more open to shopping in the app, and brands can use the opportunity to create customised lifestyle shopping experiences, extending their reach.
By doing so, brands own and grow this community of mobile shoppers and continue to engage them even after the campaign has finished by sending relevant promos or content.
This is something that a mass-market music solution, like Pandora or Spotify, cannot offer brands because the approach is more tactical and short-term.
American Eagle increased sales in its e-commerce app by adding an in-app music streaming service.
Music apps need to expand their commerce offering to keep fans interested
Beyond that, apps have the opportinyt to assist artists to think about other ways to make money from their music, whether that’s offering signed vinyl albums or by selling setlists after that show.
For many artists, the market for those items isn’t massive — but all they need is a handful of super fans to sell to, and there’s no downside. If they don’t sell the signed setlist from one show, it’s not a net loss for them, it’s simply a wash.
The platform with the the best e-commerce experience is likely to come out on top, which makes Amazon’s entry into the market even more interesting.
A service like Amazon, for instance, could even experiment with cross-vertical commerce recommendations — for instance, if you like a band, you could buy the lead singer’s book, or see items that other fans liked and purchase those.
Music apps need to be thinking beyond obvious commerce offerings and open up their platforms to more buying experiences.
Brands are uniquely situated to do this and have an advantage when it comes to creating in-app shopping experiences.
Soon customers will be visiting streaming apps for songs and leaving with shoes.
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