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In this latest from MusicThinkTank, Anica Oaks shares three important tips for staying safe at your next live show.
"Even if you’ve bought your tickets in advance, if you’re attending a concert, then chances are you’re going to be bringing some extra cash along with you for drinks or possibly food and maybe even a t-shirt."
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Guest post by Dave Brooks of Amplify
Ticketing company Songkick has let go most of its staff and is hoping against long odds to win its upcoming lawsuit against Ticketmaster so that investors can recoup some portion of the $90 million they’ve invested in the fan club ticketing service and music discovery app.
The small company is working to fulfill its outstanding ticket contracts and finish up some existing business, but operationally the company is not accepting new customers. Its popular song discovery app is now operated by Warner Music Group, whose owner Access Industries invested $80 to $90 million in Songkick. Warner has supposedly taken over the company in what Songkick is calling an “acquisition” but is more akin to a liquidation, according to sources familiar with the situation.
“The fact they are trying to spin this as an acquisition is an appropriate ending to a company that has mislead the public and investors since they started raising money and sued Live Nation,” one source tells Amplify.
When Songkick filed its lawsuit against Ticketmaster in 2015, it asked a judge in the case for a preliminary injunction, arguing Ticketmaster was causing the company irreparable harm. That request was denied.
Lawyers then made headlines when they accused Ticketmaster of destroying evidence in the case — and again, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer ruled against Songkick, saying there was no proof any evidence was destroyed. In February, Songkick alleges it was hacked by Ticketmaster — it turned out Songkick hadn’t changed any of its passwords after several employees quit. These employees, now under the employ of Ticketmaster, we able to utilize their logins to access parts of the Songkick system.
“In every case, Songkick comes out swinging with these allegations, the press picks it up and then no one ever follows through,” our source says. “Each allegation turns out to be a nothing-burger, but by the end no one cares.”
On top of it, Songkick has spent thousands on expensive PR firms to bully some in the media, and ex-employees said founder Matt Jones spent big bucks on first class flights to the company’s offices in London, Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. Coupled with pricey SoHo House memberships and tens of millions spent on a lawsuit, it’s not hard to see how the company could burn through money.
One figure from the lawsuit — that Songkick was processing hundreds of millions in sales — was said to be “totally bogus.”
“The biggest thing they did was the Adele pre-sale and that generated about $80 million for them in total sales, but we estimated they probably lost $200,000 to $300,000 trying to execute their end of the agreement,” our source says.
“Fan club ticketing doesn’t scale, at least not the way Matt thought it would,” another source tells Amplify. “The money they were making just doesn’t add up to the money they raised.”
The company’s music recommendation engine was one of the few things seen as valuable — our source says it enjoyed nearly ten times the traffic as rival app Bandsintown.
“They drove a lot of traffic to Ticketmaster, but because they were suing Ticketmaster, they didn’t collect any affiliate money, which just killed the best thing they had going for them,” our source tells Amplify, adding the lawsuit also made it difficult to do a deal with Spotify because the streaming giant was working with both Songkick and Ticketmaster and was worried about getting dragged into a fight.
“The one part of their business that seemed to be working was hurt by the lawsuit,” our source says. “I’m not surprised there weren’t any buyers.”
Dave Brooks has over 15 years experience as a writer, including eight years as the Managing Editor of Venues Today. He started Amplify in 2014 to give the industry its own voice and turn up the volume on live entertainment.
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Deezer is expanding its higher quality streaming music service to Google Google Home and all speakers using Google Chromecast technology. Previously exclusive to Sonos, Deezer's hi fi streaming will also be available on Bang & Olufsen, Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer and Harman Wi-Fi speakers in the coming months.
Along with the expansion this $19.99 per month premium tier, the company will rebrand Deezer Elite as Deezer HiFi.
Deezer is not the only music streamer hoping to expand revenue via high quality streams.
Spotify, Napster & More
Spotify has been testing a hi fi music competitor in recent months, according to multiple sources; and may be planning an announcement before it goes public early next year.
Napster is also prepping its own hi fi streaming competitor, a source with knowledge of the rollout tells Hypebot. Napster had originally planned to announce the service this last summer at MIDEM, but now hopes to launch before the end of the year.
TIDAL has offered a high quality streaming tier since launch.
If you're aware of a venue that is not included below, please drop a line to news@celebrityccess.com.
The SMG managed American Bank Center in Corpus Christi report that they are currently working to restore services for upcoming events and regular business hours and the Texas Trophy Hunters Association's planned Hunting and Fishing Extravaganza event has been postponed.
Houston's Minute Maid Park which serves as home field to the Houston Astros suffered minor damage from flooding. Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan told the Houston Chronicle:
"We have had some flooding on the service level, which is the area down by the grounds' crew, where the ramps come in. So, nothing that's fan facing. We've had a team of 30 people that have been there since Friday living in the stadium. They have performed water extraction and blockage with sand bags every time we had major downpours and water was getting in the building.
"These guys have been doing great work over there. It's a lot of the people on our stadium operations crew. They've been working their tails off over there to make sure that the stadium is ready to go."
The Chronicle also reported that NRG Stadium, home to the Houston Texans was intact. According to the Chronicle, the area around the stadium had been affected by flooding but the stadium remains undamaged.
The Texans and the NFL are currently weighing their options ahead of the team's Sept. 10 season opener. Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones has offered to host the game at AT&T Stadium but the NFL makes the final call on when and if games are played in the face of adverse weather conditions.
The House of Blues in Houston is closed until Friday but anticipates reopening in time for a concert by Buddy Guy on Sept 2nd. Affected concerts include Sherita Perez and The Cosmic Cats, Lord Huron, Boykin Brothers, and Steve Gilbert.
Houston's Alley Theatre has been 'severely impacted' by Hurricane Harvey and has canceled the remaining shows of the production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, which was due to run through Sept. 3rd.
The Concrete Street Amphitheater in Corpus Christi said they are still open for business and a September 2nd show by Social Distortion is still a go as of press time. Another Corpus Christi venue, The Brewster Street Icehouse, announced that they too, were open for business and would be hosting The Nerds on Friday, and Wade Bowen on Saturday for a red cross benefit.
The Rooftop Lounge announced that the scheduled show by La Fiebre on August 31st has been rescheduled.
Experimental music venue Super Happy Fun Land announced that they will be closed until at least August 31st due to the storm.
Houston's Last Concert Cafe reported that they will remain closed until the roadways are safe to travel again.
The Humble Civic Center & Arena is currently serving as a shelter for displaced Texans and has requested volunteers, as well as contributions of blankets and food.
Baseball park Constellation Field, located in Sugarland, Texas, has also been retasked as a shelter and temporary staging area for refugees from the storm.
The Houston Toyota Center announced that due to Hurricane Harvey, the Emmanuel & Mijares concert, originally scheduled for Thursday, August 31st at Toyota Center, has been postponed.
Donations to assist with the vast need following the devastating flooding can be made through the United Way at http://ift.tt/2wTJeLg or text UWFLOOD to 41444.
via CelebrityAccess
