While you’d expect that most bands would be using Spotify to gauge the overall popularity of their songs when it comes to deciding on a setlist, it would appear that Metallica go a step further. According to Spotify‘s CEO Daniel Ek, the band dig deep into the analytical data from the streaming service and shape their setlists around individual cities preferred Metallica tracks. During a recent company earnings call, Ek was quoted as saying:
“You have an artist like Metallica, who changes their setlist on a city-by-city basis just by looking at Spotify data to see, which the most popular songs happened to be in that city. We’ve never before been at a place in time where you could make as many informed decisions and understand your audience as well as we can do now as an artist.”
Quartz have since contacted Metallica‘s representatives but have yet to hear back if Ek‘s statement was valid as of press time.
