Despite the band’s efforts, fans found that Ticketmaster added exorbitant service and transaction fees to the ticket price.
Fans were thrilled when The Cure announced a US tour – their first in six years – and the band pledged to keep tickets accessible to fans.
“We want the tour to be affordable for all fans, and we have a very wide (and we think very fair) range of pricing at every show,” they said in a statement.
The band also intended for the tickets to be non-transferable in attempt to keep scalpers from buying up tickets to resell at vastly inflated prices, saying that they “didn’t want those prices instantly and horribly distorted by resale”.
Despite the band’s efforts, however, when tickets went on sale, fans found that exorbitant service and transaction fees were added to the face value of the ticket.
“…this math is insane,” one Twitter user posted screenshots of a transaction wherein purchasing two $20 tickets to the show incurred an additional $35.25 in additional fees.
These fees varied between venues, but many other fans reported being charged nearly double the advertised price, thanks to Ticketmaster’s additional fees.
The Cure frontman Robert Smith expressed his disgust at the markups.
“I am as sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster ‘fees’ debacle,” said Smith.
“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 answer I will let you all know.”
The Cure were able to negotiate to some success, securing a $10-per-ticket refund for the cheapest tickets, and a $5 refund for other ticketholders.
Still, fans of The Cure aren’t the only ones fed up with Ticketmaster’s questionable pricing strategies.
In November of last year, technical difficulties caused Taylor Swift fans wait times of up to eight hours, and resell ticket prices skyrocketed to as much as $22,000.
Ticketmaster is owned by Live Nation, a group which owns 259 venues worldwide and organises upwards of 15,000 live events per year, making it practically impossible for another ticketing business to provide an alternative service.
Some speculate that a rejection of the service by popular artists such as Taylor Swift and The Cure could be the only hope in disrupting Ticketmaster’s growing monopoly.
