Marc Hogan, writing for the New York Times:
Setlist.fm can seem at once ubiquitous and inconspicuous. Few reports about its origins are readily available online. According to Live Nation Entertainment, Setlist.fm’s parent company, the site was founded in 2008 by Molindo, a media agency based in Austria that also developed Songtexte, a German-language site that compiles song lyrics. “They’re giant music fans and big data nerds,” said Joe Fleischer, the publisher of Setlist.fm and head of a Live Nation studio that produces marketing content for major brands.
Live Nation acquired Setlist.fm in 2010, although the entertainment giant did not announce the deal until two years later. Fleischer, a former music journalist, joined in 2011, when Live Nation bought BigChampagne, a music data company he helped found.
The entire point of the site, he said, is being useful: “That’s all it’s ever been, is about increasing utility, increasing our usefulness for fans.”