Google’s new concert listings feature will help streamline the online music discovery and ticketing buying process for the consumer as it calls attention to secondary ticket sellers.

Google has added another feature to help simplify online ticket buying for live events — it has now added tour dates and concert listings to search results. The popular search engine already provides its users with links to streaming music from Myspace and similar social media websites.

Music fans can search by band or artist to access information that includes a list of upcoming local appearances and links to purchase tickets from primary and secondary ticket sellers. Since the information is tied to a user’s location, if no local upcoming performances are available, search results will simply appear without the new information.

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“If [bands] aren’t touring near you, the new results for concerts won’t appear, but if the band happens to be coming to your town within the next few months, you can see the concert dates listed under the band’s official website,” said Kavi Goel, a Google Search product manager, in a Feb. 23 blog post. “You can then click on the band’s official site to learn more or click on other web pages to learn more about the event or to buy tickets.”

Google joins other companies that have recently incorporated new services in order to streamline search and discovery for users. This recently added feature helps provide a solution to the present problem within the ticketing industry — the fact that nearly half of all concert tickets go unsold simply because fans are not aware of the events.

TicketNews recently discussed the Ticketmaster Facebook application, which is similar to the Google concert listings feature. The app uses music app activity and a user’s location to recommend nearby concerts based on listening habits.

While the Google feature cannot make automatic recommendations, music fans will be able to search for an artist they like, find out about a local show that they may have otherwise been unaware of, and purchase tickets using a direct link.

The concert listings feature will not only help make the ticket buying process easier for the consumer, it will also drive traffic to ticket companies in the secondary market, with Google suggesting multiple buying options to its users.

While the new feature is currently available in English only, Google plans to expand its service for foreign countries.

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