Businessmodel of Songkick

Customer Segments

Songkick has a mass market business model, with little differentiation between customers. It targets any consumer who wants to obtain customized, up-to-date information about concerts.

Value Proposition

Songkick offers four primary value propositions: convenience, customization, risk reduction, and brand/status.

The company offers convenience by collecting information about music events as soon as it becomes available and alerting users to their dates and venues.

The company enables customization by personalizing concert alerts based on the artists in a users’ phone music library.

The company reduces risk by curtailing the efforts of scalpers. It operates a “tout-busting” technology that prevents scalpers from purchasing tickets through the site and reselling them. The program is effective – for a British tour by artist Adele, it blocked 18,000 touts from buying tickets, resulting in less than 2% of tickets sold appearing on the secondary market. A study by Media Insight Consulting claimed that the measures saved customers £4.2 million, a figure calculated based on the prices they would have been willing to pay in secondary channels.

The company has established a strong brand in a relatively short time. It bills itself as the world’s largest concert discovery service and the second-largest concert site after Ticketmaster, with 10 million monthly users, more than 100,000 listed events annually, over one million listed artists, and over 100,000 setlists. Beyond Adele, artists who have used the platform for their events include Metallica, Kenny Chesney, J. Cole, and Mumford & Sons. Songkick estimates that it now sells tickets for one of every three concerts in London and has sold tickets in 48 countries worldwide. Finally, the firm has received many honors, including recognition as one of Telegraph’s “Top 100 Startups in Europe” and one of *Time *magazine’s “50 Best Android Applications for 2013.”

Channels

Songkick’s main channel is its website, through which it acquires customers. The company also invites consumers to join through its mobile app.

Customer Relationships

Songkick’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service, automated nature. Customers utilize the service through the main platform while having limited interaction with employees. The platform includes its website and mobile app. The company’s website includes a “Support” section with answers to common questions. There is also a community component in the form of a discussion forum where users can communicate with peers and a personal assistance element in the form of e-mail support.

Key Activities

Songkick’s business model entails maintaining and updating its platform for customers.

Key Partners

Songkick offers a public API that enables access to its data and integration with other services. Data provided includes upcoming events, users’ events and trackings, past artist events, venue details, and similar artists. Companies that have integrated their services with the API include YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Foursquare, Warner Music Group, Mobile Roadie, Yahoo! Search, BBC, and Vevo.

Key Resources

Songkick’s main resource is its proprietary software platform, which serves over 10 million users monthly. It depends on its engineering staff to keep the platform robust and up-to-date. As a startup, it also relies on funding, and has raised $45.8 million from nine investors as of December 2015.

Cost Structure

Songkick has a cost-driven structure, aiming to minimize expenses through significant automation and low-price value propositions. Its biggest cost driver is likely transaction expenses, a fixed cost. Other major drivers are in the areas of sales/marketing and customer support/operations.

Revenue Streams

Songkick has two revenue streams:

Transaction Fees – These are fees charged whenever a customer completes a ticket purchase.

Advertising Fees – These are fees charged to third parties that want to advertise their offerings on Songkick’s platform (website or mobile app).