U.K.-based artist-to-fan ticketing service Songkick has announced that it will close its doors on October 31st. After a long-running lawsuit with Ticketmaster/Live Nation, the company has essentially been put out of business by its ultra-powerful market competition. In a press release, Songkick CEO Matt Jones made clear that the company is being blocked from doing business by Ticketmaster/Live Nation, and that, while Songkick is now being forced to close its doors, the legal battle will rage on.

Songkick worked with artists to sell tickets directly to fans before they went on sale on major ticketing platforms like Ticketmaster/Live Nation. The giant ticketing conglomerate seemingly did everything they could to block the upstart company from making an impactful entry into the U.S. ticketing industry. Eventually, Songkick filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster/Live Nation, claiming antitrust violations and anticompetitive practices, a suit that Jones insists “will continue unabated.” The other side of Songkick’s business—a concert discovery app and calendar—recently split off from Songkick and was purchased by Warner Music Group. That brand will “continue uninterrupted under the WMG umbrella.”

Ticketmaster Will Now Be Selling Their Tickets Through Spotify

In other somewhat-related though possibly coincidental news, Songkick competitor Bandsintown has announced a partnership with Facebook that will allow them to scan Bandsintown once a day to auto-generate Facebook events for any new tour dates. Songkick also has their own Concerts app on Facebook and has a similar app called Tourbox that works with Spotify, Bandcamp, and Hype Machine. It seems that Songkick is fighting this uphill battle on all fronts.

See below for the full statement from Songkick CEO Matt Jones.

Before I say anything, let me say thank you.

Thank you to the artists and managers who entrusted us with their tickets and audience; to the agents, labels, promoters and venues that partnered with us to make artists’ visions into realities; and to the many – always committed and now nearly all former – employees of CrowdSurge and Songkick who worked tirelessly over the last 10 years with nothing short of a remarkable passion to better the live experience for artists and fans.

With that said, 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. Songkick’s concert discovery app, which was sold to Warner Music Group in July, will continue uninterrupted under the WMG umbrella.

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.

If you are an artist, promoter or venue for whom we have sold tickets to a show occurring on a future date, you will be contacted individually over the following three business days to arrange for payment. All outstanding amounts will be paid in full.

If you are an artist, promoter or venue currently using our services to sell tickets, list shows, store customer data or power parts or all of your website, these services will become unavailable on October 27. 

On behalf of myself and all of my colleagues, it’s been a pleasure to work with you. Once again: thank you, for everything.

All the best,
MJ