Gig-discovery startup Songkick merged with artist-ticketing firm CrowdSurge in 2015, raising $16m from investors including Access Industries in the process.
Two years on they are now de-merging, with Songkick’s discovery app, website and trademark being sold to Warner Music Group – owner: Access Industries – leaving the ticket business as a standalone operation.
That’s a careful move: “The acquisition excludes Songkick’s ticketing business and pending litigation associated with the ticketing business,” announced WMG, referring to the ticketing firm’s legal action against Live Nation / Ticketmaster.
WMG’s artist and label-services division WEA will now run the Songkick app as part of its direct-to-fan business, while what’s left of the business elsewhere will continue its legal action.
The news comes a couple of weeks after filings to the UK’s Companies House registered Access boss Len Blavatnik as a ‘person with significant control’ of Songkick: specifying a stake of between 25% and 50% of the company’s shares.
One question now is what kind of ticketing partnerships WEA will do on behalf of the Songkick app.
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