After months of bad news following their lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation, Songkick has disclosed it will close its doors on October 31 in a memo to clients that was obtained by Variety.
“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 US ticketing business,” founder and CEO Matt Jones wrote in the letter.
Songkick is suing Ticketmaster and Live Nation for charges of company interference and unfair competition. The lawsuit claims that Ticketmaster hired Stephen Mead, a top executive from CrowdSurge, which merged with Songkick in 2015, who retained a substantial amount of company documents from Crowdsurge. They allege that Live Nation and Ticketmaster then used that information to develop business plans to counter his former employer’s attempts to compete with his new home.
As of yesterday, it was confirmed that Stephen Mead and another employee embroiled in the scandal, Zeeshan Zaidi, no longer work for the ticketing giant.
The letter goes on: “Our antitrust, trade secret misappropriation and hacking lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster will continue unabated, with trial currently scheduled to begin in the second week of November, just a month from now. Many of you receiving this note have helped us immensely as we prepare for our day in court, and even as we shutter our business, we will remain focused on pursuing a legal victory and making the live music industry better for artists and fans.”
In July, Warner Music Group purchased Songkick’s concert-recommendation business and name, leaving only the ticketing end of its business independent. The company then let go the majority of its staff and stopped taking on new customers in August.
Songkick’s letter informed all artists, promoters, and venues currently using Songkick services to sell tickets that services will become unavailable on October 27, and assured that all outstanding amounts for tickets already sold for a future date will be paid in full.
