So who is Ian Hogarth? Well he is the co-founder of songkick.com, which helps users track their favourite bands for tour dates, get the latest events at venues of your choice and you can also buy tickets from a choice of 94 different ticket vendors in 60 countries. The site also has a calendar where you can track your upcoming events.
Launched in October 2007, Songkick has grown to having 1.3million users. Songkick make their money from getting commission from the sale of tickets when they direct users to the ticket sellers site. Ian managed to secure $15k in seed funding used to help the company with their initial launch as a Y-Combinator start-up. A year later Songkick proved themselves enough to get $1million in angel funding.
Ian believes there is a real opportunity in increasing the size of the concert going market. Currently in the US adults spend 35 times as much on going to the cinema than they do on attending live music concerts. Ian saw that 70% of adults in America attend a live music event every year and believes that people just need more information on when and where performances are taking place. Ian is looking to grow Songkick by integrating applications such as iTunes and Last.fm to increase usability.
Ian Hogarth’s success and drive has seen him win the British Council’s UK Young Music Entrepreneur competition 2010. There was a lot of competition for the award, but Ian’s knowledge of Mandarin as well as his innovative business ideas and top presentation skills put him over the top. Ian has been in love with China since the age of 18 when he went there to learn Mandarin.
He saw the potential the country had as a future economic power at the end of the 90’s. He has since been back in 2003 and 2005.
Using the prize fund he received from the award, he is using it to develop Songkick in China. His passion for music and the belief he has for the website, led him to the UK Young Music Entrepreneur award and the opportunity to develop the company in China. He has brought together his interests in China, music and technology and has built a base for the rest of his career.
