Concert listing and ticketing company Songkick is suing live events and promotion behemoth Live Nation over what it alleges are attempts to "destroy competition." Though it may not be the size of global giant Live Nation, Songkick is no small fish. It has worked with the likes of Jackson Browne, Paul McCartney, Ellie Goulding, Adele and Ricky Martin on various tours.
The suit filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday accuses Ticketmaster and importantly its subsidiary Ticketmaster of violating federal antitrust law. The complaint alleges that the defendants via the NY Times "have attempted to destroy competition in the artist presale ticketing services market"
The suit alleges that Live Nation has pressured unnamed big name artists from working with Songkick to ensure they utilize Live Nation organized pre-sales or fan club ticket offerings. Songkick does not want to name the artists because it believes Live Nation, using its massive power, will then just intimidate those acts even further.
Songkick seeks unspecified damages in the suit. Beyond the anti-trust issues that suit raises, Songkick is also alleging that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are violating the terms of their 2010 merger agreement. Under the those terms, Live Nation was not supposed to influence how artists sold its tickets to keep its business separate from Ticketmaster.
This suit focuses in the growing live music industry where big dollars are being made the top promoters and musicians. Many venues have exclusive deals with companies like Ticketmaster to offer presales, but small amount of tickets, sometimes around 8 percent can be offered through the artist before they go on sale to the public. This is where Songkick can offer its services to artists as a presale service.
Live Nation has not commented on the suit as of yet.
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