The Cure’s Robert Smith is ‘as sickened as you’ by Ticketmaster
Scoring tickets to observe the Cure carry out reside ought to be identical to heaven … however Ticketmaster is making the method hell for followers.
Robert Smith of the Cure tweeted to fans on Wednesday that he’s “as sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster ‘Fees’ debacle,” after followers voiced grievances and posted photographs of their Ticketmaster transactions.
“To be very clear, the artist has no way to limit them,” Smith continued. “I have been asking how they are justified. If I get anything coherent by way of an answer, I will let you all know.”
The English post-punk, new wave band aimed to maintain ticket prices reasonably priced, with some as little as $20. But followers shared screenshots of Ticketmaster procuring baskets during which exorbitant added charges have been tacked on for his or her U.S. tour.
Pop artist Tim Burgess shared a shot of the added prices on Twitter.
“So @thecure and @RobertSmith wanted to keep ticket prices at a reasonable level for fans ontheir upcoming North American tour dates. Of course @Ticketmaster absolutely rinsed them with ridiculous extra charges,” Burgess tweeted. “wtf even is a service fee or a facility charge or processing fee??”
In the screenshot of his transaction, it confirmed he had added 4 tickets at $20 a pop to his cart. Then Ticketmaster added a service payment of $11.65 to every ticket, plus an added facility cost of $10 per ticket, after which an order processing payment of $5.50. In the tip, his buy of 4 tickets price him $172.10, almost $100 greater than the tickets had been marketed for.
The Times columnist Suzy Exposito was among the many Cure followers tweeting whereas she tried to purchase tickets. “lol no wonder the Swifties are suing Ticketmaster. Getting tickets for the Cure has been a clown show, error messages and blank windows galore,” she said earlier than tweeting once more 40 minutes later, “Alas, the Goth Gods have smiled upon me. After 10+ attempts, I have Cure tickets!”
But Exposito was one other “verified fan” charged further charges, amounting to greater than $120 over asking worth.
“We want the tour to be affordable for all fans, and we have a very wide (and we think very fair) range of pricing at every show,” the Cure acknowledged in a March 10 post on Twitter.
“Our ticketing partners have agreed to help us stop scalpers from getting in the way; to help minimise resale and keep prices at face value, tickets for this tour will not be transferable.”
The “Boys Don’t Cry” crooner has been posting frequent updates by way of Twitter over the past week, and stated the band didn’t comply with Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing,” “price surging,” “platinum ticket” mannequin, calling it “a bit of scam.”
According to Smith, the band had ultimate say within the ticket pricing for his or her upcoming Shows of a Lost World tour, which includes a three-night keep on the Hollywood Bowl on May 23-25. They didn’t need ticket costs “instantly and horribly distorted by resale.”
He additionally wrote the group was satisfied that Ticketmaster’s “verified fan page” and “face value ticket exchange” system — during which followers register for an opportunity to be given a singular buying code previous to presale — would assist struggle the scalpers.
Smith stated he would replace followers if he will get extra details about the Ticketmaster charges. In the meantime, he’s “compelled to note” the “recurring elephant in the room” that if nobody “bought from scalpers . . . then . . . X”
This is the most recent in a distinguished string of debacles with Tickmaster. Ire from artists and followers has been pointed towards the corporate for worth gouging and software program glitches which have precipitated followers hoping to see Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen to both miss out on tickets altogether or face costs reaching the 1000’s.
In December, 26 burned Swifties filed a lawsuit towards Ticketmaster, alleging that its mum or dad firm (Live Nation Entertainment Inc.) engaged in fraud, price-fixing and antitrust-law violations in addition to “intentionally and purposefully mislead[ing] ticket purchasers by allowing scalpers and bots access to TaylorSwiftTix presale.”
“The public brought all this on itself,” Fred Rosen, the 79-year-old former chief government of Ticketmaster, advised The Times’ August Brown in January.
“I have no sympathy for people whining about high ticket prices,” he continued, blaming followers who downloaded music with out paying for it throughout the music file-sharing period of Napster. “They helped create this situation where artists have to make all their money on tour. Artists and the market set the prices, and you can’t pay a Motel 6 price and stay at the Four Seasons.”