Songkick Sues Live Nation

LOS ANGELES (VIP NEWS) — Ticketing firm Songkick is suing 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.

New York-based Songkick filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Los Angeles, saying that Beverly Hills-based Live Nation broke federal antitrust laws.

Online concert-ticket seller Songkick has helped major artists such as Adele sell passes directly to fans and thwart scalpers in an effort to take on market leader Ticketmaster.

Now it`s accusing Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, of engaging in anti-competitive behavior by pressuring touring artists and concert venues to not work with Songkick`s service.

Artists use Songkick to offer tickets to fan-club members before they go on sale to the general public and to keep prized passes out of the hands of scalpers who want to sell them on the secondary market. The company says it has worked with artists including Kenny Chesney, Metallica and Mumford & Sons. Just last week, Songkick said it sold 230,000 tickets for the British singer Adele`s tour.

With the decline of traditional album sales, ticketing has become an increasingly important source of income for artists.

In its complaint, Songkick says Ticketmaster and Live Nation have "attempted to destroy competition in the artist presale ticketing services market." The company is seeking unspecified damages, including punitive damages and attorneys fees.

Songkick says Ticketmaster has used its clout in the ticketing industry to try to force the company to pay service fees for presales, and intimidated concert venues to not work with Songkick and other rival ticketing services.
–According to LA Times