Warner Music Group Acquires Songkick Concert Discovery App

Warner Music Group has acquired "selected assets" from Songkick, the popular live music discovery platform. The surprise deal, which appears motivated by the startups protracted legal battle with Ticketmaster, includes Songkick's concert discovery app and web site, but not its ticketing business.

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Warner Music Group has acquired selected assets from Songkick, a live music discovery platform that attracts 15 million fans a month. The deal includes Songkick's concert discovery app and site, as well as the Songkick trademark. As part of the acquisition, some Songkick employees involved in running the concert discovery app will move to WMG.

Importantly, the acquisition excludes Songkick’s ticketing business and pending Ticketmaster litigation associated with it. Splitting Songkick in two and selling the core concert discover service, seemingly returns value to investors and shields the core app from the litigation.

What Does The Mean For Songkick Users?

The Songkick concert discovery app will now operate as a standalone brand, overseen by WEA, WMG's artist and label services division. Exactly what that means for the millions of artists and venues that use Songkick to post a promote live shows, is unclear. But WMG is touting its "growing network of direct-to-fan destinations" and promises the deal will lead to additional offerings for Songkick users.

Tony Harlow, President, WEA, said: “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. 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."

Matt Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Songkick, said: “Songkick was founded on the promise of improving the live experience for fans and the artists they love. Over the years, we have helped tens of millions find their next great live experience. And today, I’m excited to pass the baton on the discovery service to the great team at WMG, an ideal organization to carry on this mission and to take it in new, innovative directions. And, 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.”