Spotify has announced a new virtual concert series, the first leg of which is set to run through May and June this year.

You can buy tickets starting today, and the first line-up consists of Bleachers, Leon Bridges, girl in red, Rag’n’Bone Man and The Black Keys.

Spotify rocks the (virtual) stadium

The timing is a little weird if you ask us. With COVID-19 vaccine rollouts in many countries starting to pick up speed, in-person events don’t seem as outlandish as they did seven months ago when we were neck-deep in the pandemic with no breaks in sight. Spotify had some virtual concerts then, too, reports The Verge.

Tickets cost around R210, which isn’t particularly steep compared to live concert tickets. But when what you’re getting for that money isn’t that different to any number of recorded concerts you can view on YouTube for free, it becomes a little hard to justify paying for it.

The concerts aren’t live-streamed – they’re pre-recorded. Each recorded concert will then be streamed four times based on four different time zones, so users can find the one that suits them best.

There’s a full FAQ for any extra info you may need, but we’ll run down some of the main details for you here:

You need a Spotify account, naturally, even just a free one.
Tickets are tied to your account specifically, so you can’t pass them on to your mates if you realise you’re not going to make the show.
Similarly, you can’t let other people log in to your account from other devices while you’re watching either.
You can only buy one ticket per show.
You can’t record the show.
There are no refunds so make sure you really want to watch the show before you make your purchases.

Spotify has neither said anything about how long the series will run for, nor named other acts may join the line-up.