Robert Smith 'Sickened' By Ticketmaster Fees For Tickets To The Cure Shows

By Katrina Nattress

March 16, 2023

Glastonbury Festival 2019 - Day Five
Photo: Getty Images Europe

When The Cure announced their first US tour in seven years last week, they made it a point to ensure affordable seats. Before tickets went on sale, the band shared a statement explaining how, in an effort to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers, they would be non-transferable. They also said Ticketmaster agreed to forgo its "dynamic pricing" model that increases the price depending on demand. However, there's one thing they couldn't control: fees. As a result, some fans reported that the ticketing platform's fees were nearly the same price as the tickets themselves.

Although he admitted it was "far from a perfect system," Robert Smith took to Twitter to bash Ticketmaster for its exuberant fees.

"I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY'S TICKETMASTER 'FEES' DEBACLE," he wrote in a series of tweets. "TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM. I HAVE BEEN ASKING HOW THEY ARE JUSTIFIED. IF I GET ANYTHING COHERENT BY WAY OF AN ANSWER I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW. X"

The Cure frontman then went on to continue making a point that they're stopping scalpers wherever they can. "I HAVE BEEN TOLD: StubHub has pulled listings in all markets except NY, Chicago, Denver (IE. CITIES IN STATES THAT HAVE LAWS PROTECTING SCALPERS). PLEASE DON'T BUY FROM THE SCALPERS - THERE ARE STILL TICKETS AVAILABLE - IT IS JUST A VERY SLOW PROCESS... X" he wrote. "I WILL BE BACK IF I GET ANYTHING SERIOUS ON THE TM FEES... IN THE MEANTIME, I AM COMPELLED TO NOTE DOWN MY OBVIOUS RECURRING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM THOUGHT... THAT IF NO-ONE BOUGHT FROM SCALPERS... THEN... X"

See Smith's tweets below.

The Cure
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