Songkick Accuses Live Nation Of Retaliatory Practices

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — A legel dispute over fan club "presales" has taken a twist after ticketing platform Songkick filed a legal motion accusing Live Nation of retaliating against Songkick for their anti-trust lawsuit.

Last year, Songkick filed a lawsuit against Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, accusing it of engaging in anti-competitive behavior by pressuring touring artists and concert venues to not work with Songkick`s service. Songkick's suit centered on the sale of presale tickets, which Ticketmaster requires to be priced at least equal to those on general sale on Ticketmaster's platform.

Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Songkick has filed a new motion in the case, alleging that Ticketmaster has “retaliated,” by demanding that Songkick pay the company as if Ticketmaster had conducted the presales for Songkick's clients.

According to the WSJ, the motion alleges that a senior Ticketmaster executive admitted that the company “made these demands and escalated their anticompetitive conduct in this way” due to Songkick's lawsuit.

"This retaliation, if not enjoined, will drive Songkick out of the artist presale ticketing business in the U.S.,” the motion said.

In a statement Live Nation provided to the WSJ, the company noted that the right to ticket artist presales is “explicitly within the scope” of its exclusive rights and that it is not obligated to relinquish this right, though it does share up to 8% of tickets with artists as “an accommodation.” – Staff Writers