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Spotify’s Who We Be Live returns with Live Nation
The urban concert series, based on Spotify's popular Who We Be playlist, is going "bigger for 2018", with an extra date at the Birmingham Academy
By Jon Chapple on 23 Apr 2018
Spotify's Who We Be 2017 was booked using data from the streaming platform
Spotify’s Who We Be Live show is set to return to the UK this year, following a successful debut outing at London’s Alexandra Palace last November.
The inaugural concert, based on the popular Who We Be urban music playlist, was the first-ever Spotify branded UK show, and featured performances from grime and hip-hop greats including Dizzee Rascal, Giggs, Cardi B, J Hus and Stefflon Don. The 2018 Who We Be Live shows will take place at O2 Academy Birmingham (3,009-cap.) on 14 June, and again at the Ally Pally (10,250-cap.) on a still-to-be-announced date in November.
While the debut show was promoted by SJM Concerts, Spotify has partnered with Live Nation for the two new dates.
Sam Bush, who joined Live Nation as president of UK touring last September, comments: “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 launched Who We Be Live in the UK last November and the response was phenomenal”
The line-up for Who We Be Live in Birmingham includes Jaykae, Mabel, MIST, Ms Banks, Sneakbo and Yungen, with tickets available from Ticketmaster UK from this Thursday (26 April).
Who We Be is curated by Spotify’s in-house urban music team, led by senior editor Austin Daboh, and is one of the streaming platform’s most listened-to playlists, with over 250,000 followers in the UK.
“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,” comments Daboh. “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.”
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