The Cure‘s Robert Smith has elaborated on the band’s decision to partner with Ticketmaster for the “non-transferable” ticketing strategy for their upcoming North American tour.
On March 10, The Cure announced that tickets to their North American tour would not be transferable in order to minimise “resale and keep prices at face value”. Smith has since taken to Twitter to shed light on the ticketing strategy for the tour, first announcing on Wednesday (March 15) that Ticketmaster had informed the band that “ALL tickets for The Cure Shows Of A Lost World Tour will be made available during tomorrow’s Verified Fan Sale”.
Smith then thanked fans for their support before going on to acknowledge “real problems” with the ticketing system. He clarified that the band had “final say” in the tour’s ticket price as they “didn’t want those prices instantly and horribly distorted by resale,” adding that they were told “in North America the resale business is a multi-billion [dollar] industry”.
WE HAD FINAL SAY IN ALL OUR TICKET PRICING FOR THIS UPCOMING TOUR, AND DIDN’T WANT THOSE PRICES INSTANTLY AND HORRIBLY DISTORTED BY RESALE – WE WERE TOLD "In North America the resale business is a multi-billion $ industry.
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
The band were told, Smith said, that Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform would reduce scalping by 80 per cent and that the platform had been used “more than 400 times to quality buyers”.
“We were convinced that Ticketmaster’s ‘Verified Fan Page’ and ‘Face Value Ticket Exchange’ ideas could help us fight the scalpers,” Smith wrote. The Cure did not agree to the system’s Dynamic Pricing, Price Surging and Platinum Ticket offerings, he added, “because it is itself a bit of a scam”, alluding that further discussion on that would require “a separate conversation”.
WE WERE CONVINCED THAT TICKETMASTER'S "Verified Fan Page” AND "Face Value Ticket Exchange” IDEAS COULD HELP US FIGHT THE SCALPERS
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
(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!)
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
Smith concluded by saying: “We know it’s a far from perfect system – but the reality is that if there aren’t enough tickets onsale, a number of fans are going to miss out whatever system we use; at least this one tries to get tickets into the hands of fans at a fair price”, quipping that the band should “play more/bigger shows”.
WE KNOW IT IS A FAR FROM PERFECT SYSTEM – BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IF THERE AREN’T ENOUGH TICKETS ONSALE, A NUMBER OF FANS ARE GOING TO MISS OUT WHATEVER SYSTEM WE USE; AT LEAST THIS ONE TRIES TO GET TICKETS INTO THE HANDS OF FANS AT A FAIR PRICE…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
Verified fan sales for The Cure’s North American tour will go live today (Wednesday, March 15) at 10am CDT until Thursday, March 16, 10am CDT and can be purchased here.
Smith’s statements come shortly after Ticketmaster assured its investors that it will be more transparent about extra fees added to tickets after a string of recent controversies involving pre-sale tickets to Taylor Swift‘s upcoming ‘Eras’ tour and Beyoncé‘s ‘Renaissance’ tour in the UK.
Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation reportedly told investors on a call, “We all want to know what is the true cost to see the show when we start shopping” before saying he wanted changes implemented to “relieve a lot of the stress [and] the consumer’s perception that there’s this magical extra fee added on.”
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