Live Nation Buys BigChampagne

Live Nation Entertainment has bought data analysis company BigChampagne, and its co-founder has been named GM of LiveNation.com.

BigChampagne, founded in 2001, tracks peer-to-peer file-sharing and other online traffic. It made noise in 2010 with the introduction of its Ultimate Chart, which combines traditional music sales with social media concerns.

“We love the basics of what they’ve created,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino told the New York Times, “and love the idea of taking an incredible amount of fan data off- and online and merging that into a relevant database of what artists are most popular and relevant to today’s consumer.”

BigChampagne co-founder Eric Garland will become manager of Live Nation’s website and co-founder Joe Fleischer will become LiveNation.com’s senior VP of content and product strategy, according to the Times.

All 26 employees of BigChampagne will work for Live Nation. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.