The Cure’s Robert Smith has said he is “sickened” by Ticketmaster’s fees on tickets for the English band’s US tour dates.
Earlier this week, the band said that they had tried to keep ticket prices as low as possible. It was also announced that tickets for the majority of concerts would be non-transferable to protect fans against scalpers.
However, a number of fans have posted images that show how Ticketmaster’s fees cost substantially more than the ticket itself. One customer purchased four tickets at $20 (£17/€19) each, but found that the service charge was $11.65 per ticket, the facility charge equated to $10 a ticket and the order processing fee was $5.50 per ticket. In total, the order for four tickets amounted to $172.10.
the cure deliberately kept ticket prices low and @Ticketmaster was like “lol bet” and charges more in fees than the band is for the actual show pic.twitter.com/Ig0U5Ywcpw
— frank costanza’s lawyer (@_carrrmen) March 15, 2023
Smith said on Twitter: “I am as sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster ‘fees’ debacle. To be very clear: The artist has no way to limit them. I have been asking how they are justified. If I get anything coherent by way of an answer, I will let you all know.”
I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY’S TICKETMASTER ‘FEES’ DEBACLE. TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM. I HAVE BEEN ASKING HOW THEY ARE JUSTIFIED. IF I GET ANYTHING COHERENT BY WAY OF AN ANSWER I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW. X
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
The singer also said that the band did not agree to Ticketmaster’s ‘Platinum’ ticketing option as they believed it was a “greedy scam”.
He wrote: “We didn’t agree to the ‘dynamic pricing’/‘price surging’/ ‘Platinum Ticket’ thing…because it is itself a bit of a scam? A separate conversation!
“What I meant by this bit was… I had a separate conversation about ‘Platinum’, to see if I had misunderstood something…but I hadn’t! It is a greedy scam – and all artists have the choice not to participate…if no artist participated, it would cease to exist.”
The Cure’s ‘Shows of a Lost Word’ North America tour will run across May, June and July this year, with stops in New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles, Vancouver and more.