 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry |
|
| Founded | 2004; 21 years ago (2004) |
| Founder | Brian Dear |
| Headquarters | , US |
| Parent | Audacy, Inc. |
| Website | audacy |
Eventful is an online calendar and events discovery service owned byAudacy, Inc. The service allows users to search for and track upcoming entertainment events in their area[1] (such as concerts, festivals, and film presentations) involving specific performers, indicate and share their intent to attend certain events, and indicate their "demand" for certain acts to appear in their region.[2] As of February 2021, the site has been replaced by a link to Entercom's radio.com site, which includes a limited music-event-listing functionality.
Users can search for events worldwide by time, location, performer, and descriptivekeyword. Users can create private or public calendars, including "smart" calendars which automatically update when events matching search criteria are added or existing events are modified. As of July 2007, the company claimed it had approximately 4 million future events in its search engine index.[3] Users can optionally share their intention of attending an event with friends, and designate their favorite performers and venues to be used for recommendations.
Eventful Demand allows users to declare an event or performance they would like to see locally, and then campaign for others to join their "demand". Statistics from "demands" can be used by event organizers to gauge interest in holding an event in that location.
AnAPI is provided to use Eventful information in other programs and websites, such asmashups, as well as to load new or modify existing data about events, venues, or performers.
Eventful was founded as EVDB, Inc. in January 2004 inLa Jolla, California, by Brian Dear, a veteran ofeBay, the late-90sMP3.com, and early consumer-Linux startupEazel. A public beta test under the name EVDB.com was launched in March 2005, and the service changed its name to Eventful.com that September.[4]
In 2008, a number of notable users of the Demand system began to emerge; various campaigns during thepresidential election used the system, most notablyJohn Edwards.[5] In 2009, Eventful was notably used in relation to the filmParanormal Activity; its directorOren Peli invited users to vote for where the film would be screened next on its limited release by utilizing the Demand system.[6] Twelve of the thirteen venues sold out.[7]
By June 2012 the service had grown to over 20 million users.[8] In July 2014, Eventful was acquired byCBS Corporation through its Local Media division for an undisclosed amount. The purchase aligned the service with the company'sradio station group and its own local event strategies.[9] The service was then spun off with the rest of CBS Radio into CBS Radio's merger withEntercom.[10]
In January 2024, Eventful's parent company Audacy filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, Audacy made a deal with its creditors to transfer control to them while cutting approximately $1.6 billion of its debt.[11]