London-based music events startup Sofar Sounds has acquired ticketing company Seated.
Under the agreement, Seated will continue to operate as an independent company, with no changes in management structure. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Seated usually provides ticketing services including direct-to-fan presale and VIP ticketing for artists like John Legend and Death Cab For Cutie.
However, the company has switched gears during the pandemic to produce livestreams for the likes of Nathaniel Rateliff, Joan Baez and Best Coast, as well as launching a Shopify integration to increase artist revenue by 35 per cent.
The company also has a tour listings platform and has developed text messaging presale signup technology.
Sofar, whose model of promoting small concerts in non-traditional venues for members of its community, has expanded to more than 400 cities around the world.
Sofar Sounds chief executive Jim Lucchese told Pollstar: “Seated and Sofar share a common vision of putting artists first. During this past challenging year, that’s been our primary goal: to support the independent musicians who rely on touring to connect with their fans and make a living.
“These musicians are why Sofar exists. I’m incredibly excited about what Sofar and Seated are building together to do more for artists, both digitally and in person when live music returns.”
In addition, the two firms have paid out $3m to artists in the last year, a Sofar representative told Pollstar.
Seated co-founder and chief executive David McKay said in a statement: “In January of 2017, John Griffin and I set out to build the future of what ticketing should be. Our bet was that in the near future, artists would want more control of their ticketing experience and a more direct connection with their fans.
“Today Seated is joining the team at Sofar Sounds – a huge step in our goal to help empower artists to take control of their ticketing experience and fan data. Together, we’re going to be able to do even more for artists.”
Image: Garrett Coakley / CC BY-NC 2.0 / Edited for size