The Cure’s lead singer Robert Smith is fighting back against Ticketmaster and its exorbitant concert fees.
After Ticketmaster received a lot of criticism for the high price tag of their concert fees, Smith took to Twitter to share an update with his fans and expressed his displeasure with the company.
“I’m as sick as you all are about today’s Ticketmaster ‘fee’ debacle. To be very clear: the artist has no way to limit them. I’ve asked how they are justified. If I get anything coherent in response, I’ll let you all know. X,” Smith said in a tweet Wednesday.
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The Cure’s lead singer Robert Smith is fighting back against Ticketmaster and its exorbitant concert fees. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
The British rock band’s comments come on the heels of outspoken fans addressing their concerns about high fees on low ticket prices for The Cure’s North American tour.
Fans broke down the cost on social media and shared screenshots of their ticket transaction. What was supposed to be a $20 ribbon ticket resulted in nearly doubling the price with unknown fees including service fee, facility fee and order processing fee.
“So @thecure and @RobertSmith wanted to keep ticket prices reasonable for fans on their upcoming North American tour dates. Of course @Ticketmaster absolutely screwed them over with ridiculous extra costs…” a fan tweeted.
“wtf is even a service fee or setup fee or processing fee??”
The 63-year-old singer revealed that his decision to work with Ticketmaster was to avoid ticket scalpers.
Smith announced that he partnered with Ticketmaster to reduce concert costs and is promising fans a partial refund.
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The Cure’s North American tour starts in New Orleans and ends in Miami (Getty Images/Getty Images)
“1 of 2: After further discussion, Ticketmaster has agreed with us that many of the fees charged are unnecessarily high and as a gesture of goodwill, Ticketmaster has offered a $10 per ticket refund to all verified fan accounts for the lowest ticket price ( ‘ltp’) transactions…” he said in a tweet on Thursday.
“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’ve already purchased a ticket, you’ll get an automatic refund; all tickets on sales tomorrow will result in lower fees.”
The following day, the “Lullaby” singer continued to explain to fans the problems they may have faced when buying The Cure concert tickets.
“1 of 2: This morning, 6 shows were prematurely activated for face value exchange before face value restrictions were put in place. The problem was immediately fixed. However, about 900 tickets were purchased above face value…” Smith pointed out .
“2 of 2: All these buyers are being contacted and will automatically be refunded at face value,” he assured.
Ticketmaster also updated fans on the refund and stated that they have been working with The Cure to resolve the high ticket costs.
“This was on our radar early this morning and has already been resolved – refunds are ongoing to fans for any costs over the original ticket price. We stand with the band on their decision to use a Face Value Exchange and it will be enforced on our marketplace,” Ticketmaster wrote on their Twitter.
The Cure is scheduled to kick off their tour on May 10th in New Orleans and end on July 1st in Miami.
English lead singer, guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuing member of the rock band Cure Robert James Smith performs on stage during a concert. (Getty Images/Getty Images)
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The Ticketmaster debacle stems from other popular artists also having problems with the ticket distribution company.
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Last November, Ticketmaster canceled a planned sale of tickets to the general public for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” after its system was overwhelmed by demand during a two-day presale event, leaving insufficient inventory for further sales.
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A group of Swift fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, following the chaos that ensued when the company put concert tickets for Swift’s upcoming tour on sale.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.