We apparently now reside in a world — OK, a rustic — the place artists have to remain in an energetic dialogue with Ticketmaster to make sure that their followers don’t get priced out of exhibits. Today, the Cure’s Robert Smith tweeted that Ticketmaster would promise partial refunds to counteract its “unduly high” charges for the band’s upcoming North American tour. “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…,” Smith tweeted at this time.
Smith continued: “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… I WILL KNOW IN A BIT – AND LET YOU KNOW – WHAT SHOWS HAVE TICKETS LEFT FOR SALE TOMORROW… ONWARDS X”
When the Cure first introduced its North American tour, the band promised “no ‘platinum’ or ‘dynamically priced’ tickets on this tour.” The band additionally defined that the tickets for the exhibits wouldn’t be transferable, aka should you purchase one, you’ll be able to solely promote it for face worth. In an effort to maintain ticket costs cheap, the band additionally agreed to Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan plan, which is designed to maintain scalpers and bots from snapping up all of the tickets however could make the duty of shopping for tickets extra difficult.
On March 14, after registered followers have been seeing remarkably excessive charges, Smith tweeted extra concerning the band’s US ticketing technique (which was meant to keep away from scalping and reselling), acknowledging that it doesn’t matter what the band does it’s nonetheless not straightforward for followers to purchase tickets. “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…”
Smith’s newest assertion is beneath.