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Live Nation Acquires Songkick Assets In Settlement
– Songkick
The longstanding legal battle between Songkick and Live Nation seems to have finally drawn to a close, as Live Nation has put out a press release stating that it has acquired assets from Complete Entertainment Resources Group, Inc. (formerly Songkick), effectively settling the lawsuit.
The acquisition encompasses CERG’s ticketing platform, anti-scalping algorithm, API applications and patent portfolio. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the news release, but financial filings from Live Nation confirm the company is making a lump sum payment of $110 million to CERG, exclusive of the amounts paid to acquire the other assets.
The dispute between the companies has spanned years, starting with an antitrust suit from Songkick in 2015 and leading to the eventual shutdown of all ticketing operations by Songkick in October of last year, a development which the CEO and founder Matt Jones blamed squarely on Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“I’m sad to write that on October 31, Songkick will bow to pressure from Live Nation and Ticketmaster and complete the shutdown of all ticketing operations (including the design and maintenance of artist webpages) we began earlier this year when Ticketmaster and Live Nation effectively blocked our U.S. ticketing business,” Jones wrote in an October email thanking artists, agents, managers, promoters, venues, partners and former CrowdSurge and Songkick employees.
Songkick had its concert-discovery app, website and naming rights acquired by Warner Music Group last year, but not its ticketing business, which it was said would operate under a new name under the guidance of Jones, who would also continue fighting the legal battle with LN.
“We are pleased that we were able to resolve this dispute and avoid protracted and costly legal proceedings, while also acquiring valuable assets,” Live Nation president Joe Berchtold said in a press release.
Jones echoed the sentiment in the release and again thanked the many who helped contribute to Songkick’s rise.
In its suit against Ticketmaster, Songkick claimed that Stephen Mead, the former director of Ticketmaster artist-services unit, and prior to that a former Songkick exec, hacked Songkick’s computers and used trade secrets to revamp TM’s own services. Songkick also accused Zeeshan Zaidi, the Senior VP/GM of its concert and touring division OnTour, of acting improperly in its lawsuit.
Ticketmaster previously confirmed to Pollstar that Mead and Zaidi are no longer with the company.
Representatives from Live Nation and CERG had not provided additional comment at publication time.