Digital

Songkick announces completion of new investment round

By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 9 March 2012

Gig-based information and content sharing service Songkick has announced it has raised another £6.3 million in funding to enable the London-based firm to “continue to innovate”. Original investors are among those putting new money into the business, as are US venture capital firm Sequoia, investing in a UK-based digital start up for the first time.

Confirming the new round of investment, Songkick founder and CEO Ian Hogarth told reporters: “We set this company up as three friends in an attic with the simple idea that fans would go to more concerts if someone made it really easy, and focused on the bands rather than just the venues. We’ve since gathered proof that it makes a meaningful difference to people’s lives: when people start using Songkick, they go to almost twice as many gigs the year after”.

So far Songkick has stayed neutral in terms of ticket providers and media, providing affiliate links to various ticketing agencies, and forming content partnerships with various media and digital partners. Commentators are most interested in Songkick’s relationship with Live Nation’s Ticketmaster though, given the live music giant also has ambitions in the gig data and information space, and in building a community of gig goers. As previously reported, just this week Live Nation acquired set list sharing website Setlist.fm.

While Songkick likes its neutrality, Ticketmaster is possibly a powerful partner, or indeed competitor. It’s also possible that some of the firm’s new investors expect Live Nation to make a bid for the company down the line, which will provide the opportunity to cash in on this week’s investment.

Either way, Songkick remains one of the UK’s most interesting music-based digital set ups.