Apple Music adds Ticketmaster to concert discovery feature

Apple Music announced on Tuesday that it is partnering with Ticketmaster to power its concert discovery feature. The integration makes Ticketmaster the first ticketing service to integrate with Apple Music, allowing users to find nearby concerts and events tailored to their listening habits. Under the partnership, Ticketmaster will provide concert discovery and ticket purchasing integration directly within the streaming app, adding direct links to Ticketmaster on event listings.

Also on Tuesday, Apple Music partnered with Bandsintown, a concert discovery platform, to display concert listings within the app. The Ticketmaster integration expands the ticketing service’s existing presence across other products in the Apple ecosystem, which already include Maps, Spotlight Search, Photos, and Shazam. For instance, when users identify songs using Shazam, they can discover and purchase tickets for upcoming concerts. Users can also explore future events at venues through Apple Maps, or find Ticketmaster listings when searching for artists.

The move represents Apple Music’s latest attempt to keep pace with rivals in concert discovery. In 2023, Apple Music launched a feature to browse and listen to set lists of touring artists. The new integration follows a similar move by competitor Spotify, which previously teamed up with SeatGeek to offer ticket purchasing capabilities. Ticketmaster has also partnered with other competitors in the past, including SoundCloud and YouTube, to facilitate ticket sales.

Separately, the U.S. Justice Department—the regulator that settled with Ticketmaster and Live Nation—announced earlier this month that it has tentatively settled with Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, following an antitrust lawsuit. An antitrust lawsuit is a legal action regarding competition and monopoly practices. Since their merger in 2010, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have dominated ticket sales and venue bookings in the U.S. However, the ticket purchasing process has faced scrutiny, and customers have expressed frustration over dynamic pricing practices—a pricing strategy where prices fluctuate based on demand—which can significantly inflate costs.

Why it matters

This integration is Apple Music’s latest attempt to keep up with rivals like Spotify in concert discovery. By expanding Ticketmaster’s presence across the broader Apple ecosystem, the partnership further embeds the ticketing service into Apple’s core consumer applications, including Maps and Shazam.