Warner Buys Songkick App, Name; Ticketing Remains Independent

Warner Music Group has purchased Songkick’s concert-recommendation business and name, according to a deal announced Friday and reported by the New York Times. The ticketing end of Songkick’s business will remain independent, under a new name yet to be determined.

With an audience of over 15 million people per month, Songkick’s concert-recommendation system sends users customized feeds of local listings of live music events. In business since 2007 and based in the United Kingdom, the system is available via both email updates and an application for mobile phones.

Per an article in TechCrunch, the service will operate as a standalone brand. It will be overseen by Warner’s artist and label services division, WEA.

“Fans all over the world trust Songkick to help them find events featuring the artists they love. It’s a passionate, highly engaged music community, always on the lookout for new experiences,” said Tony Harlow, President, WEA, in a statement. “Bringing together Songkick’s discovery platform and world-class technology with our existing ecommerce expertise and global reach represents a powerful step in strengthening and evolving our direct-to-fan capabilities,” he added.

Details of the purchase terms between the two companies were not announced.

The ticketing side of Songkick is currently embroiled in a legal battle with industry giant Ticketmaster, which it has accused of antitrust violations, including interfering with Songkick’s business and threatening the artists it works with, according to the the Times. The lawsuit was filed in 2015 and amended in February of this year. In the amended filing, Songkick accused Ticketmaster of hacking into its computer system to steal trade secrets.

“On behalf of the many artists and fans we’ve served over the last decade, we are committed to continuing our litigation against Live Nation and Ticketmaster independently,” said Matt Jones, Songkick’s chief executive in a statement.