The Cure have revealed that Ticketmaster have provided partial refunds to fans who paid to see the band on their upcoming US tour.
Robert Smith posted on social media that he was “sickened” by the imposition of Ticketmaster fees, which in some cases totalled more than the face value of the concert ticket.
"I am as sickened as you all are by today's Ticketmaster 'fees' debacle," he posted in a message to fans. "To be very clear: the artist has no way to limit them. I have been asking how they are justified."
In an update last night, The Cure frontman revealed in a series of tweets that Ticketmaster would now return some of the fans’ money as a goodwill gesture, having agreed that certain fees had been "unduly high". He added that all tickets going on sale today (March 17) for dates in May and June would incur lower fees.
Music Week has requested a comment from Live Nation/Ticketmaster.
Fans took to social media to protest about the fees imposed for the tickets, which The Cure had promised would be affordable. There were no platinum or dynamically priced tickets for the tour, and, in an effort to combat touts, they were not transferable.
1 OF 2: AFTER FURTHER CONVERSATION, TICKETMASTER HAVE AGREED WITH US THAT MANY OF THE FEES BEING CHARGED ARE UNDULY HIGH, AND AS A GESTURE OF GOODWILL HAVE OFFERED A $10 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR LOWEST TICKET PRICE ('LTP’) TRANSACTIONS...
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
2 OF 2: ...AND A $5 PER TICKET REFUND TO ALL VERIFIED FAN ACCOUNTS FOR ALL OTHER TICKET PRICE TRANSACTIONS, FOR ALL CURE SHOWS AT ALL VENUES; IF YOU ALREADY BOUGHT A TICKET YOU WILL GET AN AUTOMATIC REFUND; ALL TICKETS ON SALE TOMORROW WILL INCUR LOWER FEES
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
The pledge for lower prices meant that fans could pay just $20 before fees to see The Cure on their first US tour in seven years. But with service, processing and venue fees, the total price was sometimes more than double the face value - although that varied depending on the venue.
Following the complaints and comments by Smith, he posted on social media that Ticketmaster will refund $10 to all verified fan accounts for the lowest priced tickets ($20). All other fan verified account holders for higher priced tickets will receive a $5 refund.
The row over The Cure’s tickets follows a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this year into Ticketmaster’s pricing policies. Joe Berchtold, president and CFO of parent company Live Nation, apologised to Taylor Swift and her fans over its failure to block bots purchasing tickets for the Eras tour. The scheduled general sale then had to be postponed.
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