We just bought back Seated
A note from our co-founder & CEO, David McKay
Today, as announced in Billboard Magazine, I’m incredibly proud to share that Seated is once again an independent, founder-led company.
Four years after selling Seated to Sofar Sounds, my co-founder John and I have officially bought it back. It’s a full-circle moment - and one we don’t take for granted.
When we first launched Seated in 2017, our mission was simple... give artists more control over their ticketing experience. At the time, it felt like a radical idea to pause and identify the real fans before tickets went on sale, to use tools like SMS verification to give fans early access, and to allow artists to capture all that data for themselves.
Eight years later, that playbook has become industry standard. And while Seated is proud to have led that wave, the real opportunity lies in what comes next.
The ticketing industry is changing even faster now than it was when we started. Artists want more control. Fans expect more transparency. And the infrastructure that connects the two has to evolve.
We believe Seated is uniquely positioned to help make that happen.
Over the past few years, we’ve grown Seated into a core part of the touring strategy for some of the world’s biggest artists - powering everything from presale registration and direct-to-fan ticketing to sold-out waitlists and verified fan-to-fan resale.
Artists like Billie Eilish, Noah Kahan, Post Malone, Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Lorde, Jack Harlow, Kenny Chesney, Brandi Carlile, The Lumineers, Gracie Abrams, Jelly Roll, Lizzo, Eagles, Goose, Bruno Mars, Dead & Company, John Legend, and Shawn Mendes, among thousands of others, have used Seated to capture data and ensure more fans, not scalpers, get access to tickets.
And this is just the beginning.
This re-acquisition gives us the flexibility and focus to go deeper. We’re doubling down on what we do best - building great software for artists to own their ticketing, capture and activate their fan data, and grow meaningful relationships with the people showing up to their shows.
We’re incredibly grateful to the team at Sofar Sounds for supporting Seated’s growth over the past four years. As they refocus on their amazing global experiences business, we’re excited to carry Seated forward and keep building for the artists we’re lucky enough to work with.
To the artists, managers, agents, promoters, labels, and teams who have believed in us from the start... thank you.
We’re just getting started.
– David McKay
Read the full announcement in Billboard Magazine
