Will You Get Money Back from Lyte for Tickets?

Recently headlines have ticket seller, Lyte, shutting down operations abruptly. This article in Louisville indicated that many fans are left unsure what to do about the situation. While we have zero affiliation with Lyte, we have seen this scenario play out a few times in our 30+ years in business so offer some suggestions. First, what is Lyte ticketing? Lyte was a company started in 2017 by Ant Taylor to “undercut the secondary market” (their words) and provide a way for fans to resell tickets at face value. It was established in opposition to the very healthy ecosystem of secondary ticket sites that offered fans the ability to buy & sell tickets at whatever prices they want. Lyte’s angle was to approach festivals to offer their service to become the “official” fan sale marketplace of those festivals so fans could get sell tickets. Lyte got a lot of hype in music industry publications and was even listed last year by Forbes as one of “the most innovative companies” 2023.

Now Lyte appears to be out of money. They have changed the homepage on their website to say it’s undergoing “routine maintenance” but in reality the company in its current form appears to be done. The company is already shopping its assets to find a buyer. There are articles saying the CEO has left the company and their CFO removed Lyte from her LinkedIn page, which is a pretty clear sign she is no longer working for the company. So now we find out what happens to Lyte’s customers which are both fans who bought/sold tickets through their platform and the festivals that Lyte partnered with. It is possible that Lyte still has money to cover their obligations, but our guess is they would not have abruptly shuttered if they had sufficient cash to cover their obligations. We are operating under that assumption (we have no inside knowledge of their finances) so we offer this advice to customers of them.

If you are a fan who purchased tickets on Lyte for a festival or show, but have yet to receive them, you can likely charge back that transaction with your credit card company and purchase new tickets from a reputable ticket site. If you are fan who sold tickets on Lyte, and have not been paid yet, you are likely going to have to work with the festival who named them “official” to try to seek remedy. If that festival cannot provide you the funds for the tickets you sold (which is likely as Lyte probably owes them money too) then you may need ask them to provide you replacement tickets. You could now decide to use those tickets and/or sell them on a reputable ticket site where you may be able to recoup some of your money. Your other option is to sign up as a creditor if Lyte files for bankruptcy. The challenge there is the bigger, secured creditors are likely to receive any funds Lyte has left in their bank account. You, as a creditor, are unlikely to receive money back via that avenue. It is possible someone steps in to purchase Lyte and makes good on all of their financial promises, but that is a major long shot. Lyte presumably got into this position because their business was not making sufficient money to cover their debts and anyone who buys them is likely to pay pennies on the dollar. We think your best chance is to be made whole if you sold your tickets on Lyte and are waiting for payment is to contact the festival directly.

It is a terrible situation for the fans impacted by Lyte’s sudden shutdown. We have seen this before in the ticket industry where an innovative company comes along to disrupt but ultimately cannot sustain themselves. Lyte seems to be joining the ranks of Brown Paper Tickets, Razorgator, and Scorebig.

Image courtesy of Ticketnews story on Lyte.