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The Cure’s lead singer, Robert Smith, is fighting back against Ticketmaster and its outrageous concert fees.
After Ticketmaster was widely criticized for the high price tag on their concert fees, Smith took to Twitter to share an update with his fans and expressed his resentment towards the company.
“I’m as sickened as all of you by today’s Ticketmaster ‘fees’ debacle. To be very clear, the artist has no way of limiting them. I’ve asked how they’re justified. If I get something coherent through by way of an answer , 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 outrageous concert fees. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
The British rock band’s comments come on the heels of outspoken fans expressing concerns about high fares for low ticket prices for The Cure’s North American tour.
Fans broke down the cost on social media, sharing screenshots of their ticket transaction. What should have been a $20 band ticket ended up being nearly double the price with unknown charges, including a service fee, facility fee, and order processing fee.
“So @thecure and @RobertSmith wanted to keep ticket prices at a reasonable level for fans on their upcoming North American tour dates. Of course @Ticketmaster absolutely flushed them with ridiculous extra fees…” one fan tweeted.
“wtf are service charges, facility charges or processing charges?”
The 63-year-old singer revealed that his decision to work with Ticketmaster was to avoid ticket buyers.
Smith announced that he was working with Ticketmaster to reduce concert costs and is promising fans a partial refund.
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The Cure’s North American tour kicks off in New Orleans and ends in Miami (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“1 of 2: After further discussion, Ticketmaster agrees with us that many of the fees charged are excessive, and as a gesture of goodwill, Ticketmaster has offered a $10 refund per ticket to all verified fan accounts for the lowest ticket price (‘ltp’) transactions…” he said in a tweet on Thursday.
“2 of 2: … And a refund of $5 per ticket to all verified fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions, for all Cure shows at all venues; if you have already purchased a ticket, you will receive an automatic refund; all tickets on sale tomorrow brings lower costs.”
The next day, the “Lullaby” singer went on to explain to fans the problems they might face when buying The Cure concert tickets.
“1 of 2: This morning 6 shows were prematurely triggered for face value exchange before the face value restrictions were put in place. The issue was immediately rectified. However, about 900 tickets were purchased over face value…” Smith commented.
“2 of 2: All these buyers are currently being contacted and they will be automatically refunded up to face value,” he assured.
Ticket master additionally, notified fans of the refund, stating that they have worked with The Cure to resolve the high ticket costs.
“This was on our radar early this morning and has already been resolved – refunds to fans for all charges above the original ticket price are being worked on. We stand with the band in their decision to use a Face Value Exchange and it will are enforced on our marketplace,” Ticketmaster wrote on their Twitter.
The Cure kicks off their tour May 10 in New Orleans and ends July 1 in Miami.
English lead singer, guitarist, primary songwriter and the only continuing member of the rock band The 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 business.
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Last November, Ticketmaster canceled a scheduled ticket sale to the public for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” after the system was overwhelmed by demand during a two-day presale event, leaving insufficient inventory for additional sales.
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A group of Swift fans have filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, over the chaos that ensued when the company put concert tickets for Swift’s upcoming tour up for sale.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.