Songkick and Livekick: Explaining the Differences Between the Similarly Named, Only-Kinda-Similar Services

We know it's obvious that just because two things share similar names doesn't mean they're the same. Charles Barkley and Gnarls Barkley, The World Wildlife Fund and The World Wrestling Federation, and Michael Bolton and Michael Bolton taught us that. But can you blame us that we got confused when we learned that two not-so-interchangeable concert databases, Songkick and Livekick, launched recently?

Songkick, which was founded in 2007 by Ian Hogarth, Pete Smith and Michelle You, is a social network that aims to be an interactive online concert scrapbook where members can catalogue past concerts in a "gigography" section and post media from that gig.

That's right. Throw away that messy construction paper and glue; Songkick allows users to share pictures, ticket stubs, posters, setlists as well as videos. Members can also view fellow kickers who attended said concert and compare notes and reviews.

In addition, Songkick allows users to view upcoming events and see other members who plan to attend the event. You could even set up a concert blind date, if you're into that sort of thing. ;-)

But we spent an entire afternoon trying to find a date for an upcoming concert, only to locate a single person who might go to the Taking Back Sunday show in Atlanta (The cheapest tickets were priced from a reseller at $43). It's better to have loved and lost, as they say. Or, something.

But on the site's etymological brethren, Livekick, we were able to find tickets at $25. The site is more like a database of upcoming cocerts rather than a friend-finder.

Livekick, launched by Aviv Eyal and Yarden Tadmor, lets you pick your favorite artists (and gives suggestions of similar artists) to track their concert schedule and will notify users when that artist schedules a nearby concert. On each artist page there are tons of videos of live performances and map directions to the venue (which Songkick seems to lack).

Both sites give ticket info, yet just by browsing through various concerts it seems as though Livekick has more options at a cheaper rate.

Which website is for you? Well, it depends on what you get more of a kick (sorry) out of: documenting your concert experiences with others, or having a straight-up database for upcoming shows.

Related links:
Songkick.com
Livekick.com
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