The Cure frontman Robert Smith says he persuaded Ticketmaster to partially refund the “unreasonably high” fees added to tickets for their US tour — in some cases adding up to more than the price of a ticket.
The 63-year-old singer took to Twitter to share his frustration with the pricing, telling his followers he was “as disgusted as all of you” at the additional fees and that he would be reaching out to the ticketing giant – the world’s largest ticket provider . Selling market – to find answers.
Using his signature descriptive writing, he wrote, “I asked how they are justified. If I get something coherent in response, I’ll let you all know.”
The English rock bandKnown for hits like ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and ‘Friday I’m in Love’, had maintained a low price for their tickets – with some as low as US$20 (£16) – in light of the cost affordable to keep alive crisis.
However, shortly after the tickets went on sale, fans shared screenshots of Ticketmaster shopping carts showing different fees at different venues.
One fan reported a $16.75 (£13.87) service fee in Massachusetts, while another fan said he paid a $15 (£8.97) fee in Toronto.
A person who bought a $20 ticket showed the various fees — a $11.65 service fee and $10 setup fee, and a total order-processing fee of $5.50 — all of which amounted to more than add up the face value of the ticket.
The tickets were sold as part of Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program, which allows fans to register for presale to prevent tickets being bought by touts and bots and resold at a massive markup.
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Following his initial tweet on Thursday, Smith issued an update to fans: “Following further discussions, Ticketmaster has agreed with us that many of the fees charged are unreasonably high and, as a goodwill gesture, have offered a refund of $10 per ticket to all verified.” Fan accounts for transactions at the lowest ticket price (‘ltp’).”
He said that all fans who purchased higher-priced tickets would receive a $5 per ticket refund for each show on the band’s US tour, and that the refund would be automatic for anyone who had already purchased a ticket .
A message published on The Cure’s website on Friday read: “Following Wednesday’s fan-verified sale and further discussions, Ticketmaster has agreed with us that many of the fees charged for the shows are unreasonably high, and this is as a goodwill gesture Refunds offered… Lower fees will apply to all tickets sold today.”
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Smith previously said the band, which formed in West Sussex in 1978, chose Ticketmaster to combat “scalping” – a term that refers to dealers who buy large numbers of tickets and resell them for a profit.
He said they declined to participate in the company’s dynamic pricing and Platinum ticketing programs because they didn’t want ticket prices to be “instantly and horribly distorted by resale.”
musicians incl Taylor Swift, drake, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartneyAnd Harry Styles all have previously used the dynamic pricing system, where ticket prices increase with demand.
However, there had been a backlash to the system after individual tickets sold for thousands of dollars.
In the US, Ticketmaster is under investigation after its system was overwhelmed by demand for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in November last year.
Swift described the situation at the time as “agonizing,” while US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for the 2010 merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation to be broken up, claiming they had a “monopoly” on the live music industry.
Sky News has reached out to Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for comment.
