The long-running legal battle between Live Nation and Songkick has concluded with Ticketmaster’s owner buying its now defunct rival’s assets and agreeing an out-of-court settlement worth more than $100m.
Live Nation has acquired Complete Entertainment Resources Group’s (CERG) ticketing commerce platform, anti-scalping algorithm, API applications and patent portfolio for an undisclosed sum.
Live Nation also said the two companies have agreed to a settlement resolving litigation that was scheduled to go to trial later this month. In an SEC filing Live Nation reported that it had agreed to pay Songkick’s owners $110m (£80m), which was separate to the asset acquisition.
“We are pleased that we were able to resolve this dispute and avoid protracted and costly legal proceedings, while also acquiring valuable assets,” said Joe Berchtold, president of Live Nation, in a statement.
- Songkick claims Live Nation withheld 4,000 documents until last minute
- Songkick blames Live Nation, Ticketmaster for closure
- Ticketmaster duo depart a month before Songkick trial
Songkick, which merged with CrowdSurge three years ago, began legal action against Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2015, initially accusing the entertainment giant of anticompetitive acts. Later it filed an amended complaint accusing a former CrowdSurge employee, who went on to work for Ticketmaster, of hacking trade secrets.
Songkick lost a number of pretrial motions, but was able to proceed with its expensive legal proceedings despite it effectively ceasing operations last year.
CERG sold the Songkick discovery platform to Warner Music Group last July and in October 2017 shuttered its artist ticketing business. At the time a Songkick source claimed that the sale was more akin to a liquidation, with most staff having been laid off and the company simply fulfilling existing contracts and no longer accepting new customers.
“We are glad to have resolved this litigation and thank all the employees, artists and industry partners who contributed so much to our many successes over the last decade,” said Matt Jones, chief executive of CERG.
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