Robert Smith has addressed issues with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan pre-sale system, which The Cure decided to use for their upcoming North American tour in an attempt to make sure fans have access to “affordable” tickets.
In a tweetstorm that began on Monday, March 13th, Smith warned fans against purchasing “insanely priced” Cure tickets from “scammers” on secondary market sites. While laying out their ticket policy for the tour, the band said tickets would not be transferrable, while also opting out of “platinum” and “dynamically priced” tickets.
Smith returned to Twitter on Tuesday night and acknowledged the “pretty overwhelming” demand for the Ticketmaster Verified Fan Sale and gave an explanation for their decision to use the platform.
After calling out secondary ticketing sites and citing a statement with statistics about the success of Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform, Smith wrote, “We were CONVINCED THAT TICKETMASTER’S ‘Verified Fan Page’ AND ‘Face Value Ticket Exchange’ IDEAS COULD HELP US FIGHT THE SCALPERS… 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… AND/OR WE SHOULD PLAY MORE/BIGGER SHOWS? HA!!! ONWARDS…”
Smith added the band had been told Ticketmaster “will continue to sell tickets to those who are verified until there are no more tickets to sell.”
For his final tweet, Smith explained why The Cure opted out of platinum and dynamically priced tickets: “I HAD A SEPARATE CONVERSATION ABOUT ‘PLATINUM’, TO SEE IF I HAD MISUNDERSTOOD SOMETHING… BUT I HADN’T! IT IS A GREEDY SCAM — AND ALL ARTISTS HAVE THE CHOICE NOT TO PARTICIPATE… IF NO ARTISTS PARTICIPATED, IT WOULD CEASE TO EXIST.”
Update – Wed. March 15th, 11:00 p.m. ET: In a new tweet, Smith lashed out at excessive ticket fees: “I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY’S TICKETMASTER ‘FEES’ DEBACLE. 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”
Update – Thurs. March 16th, 9:00 p.m. ET: Robert Smith has announced that fans who purchased tickets for The Cure’s upcoming North American tour will receive a partial refund due to “unduly high” fees initially charged by Ticketmaster.
Tickets are currently on sale for The Cure’s North American tour. Try your hand via Ticketmaster.
ALL THE 'SECONDARY TICKET MARKET' SITES SHOWING INSANELY PRICED CURE TICKETS ARE A CON – NOT ONE OF THESE SCAMMERS HAS A GENUINE TICKET FOR SALE – PLEASE DON'T FALL FOR IT – WAIT TO SEE HOW YOU GET ON THROUGH THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION CHANNEL – X
Advertisement— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 13, 2023
TM HAVE JUST TOLD ME "ALL tickets for The Cure Shows Of A Lost World Tour will be made available during tomorrow’s Verified Fan Sale" SEEMS THE RESPONSE TO REGISTRATION HAS BEEN PRETTY OVERWHELMING – THANKS! HOWEVER, I REALISE THERE ARE PROBLEMS, SOME MORE REAL THAN OTHERS…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE HAD FINAL SAY IN ALL OUR TICKET PRICING FOR THIS UPCOMING TOUR, AND DIDN’T WANT THOSE PRICES INSTANTLY AND HORRIBLY DISTORTED BY RESALE – WE WERE TOLD "In North America the resale business is a multi-billion $ industry.
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
The touts are sophisticated businesses that are expert at acquiring tickets, and the major marketplaces like Vivid, Stubhub and Seatgeek spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing. The touts get an unfair share of tickets and resell them on these marketplaces."
Advertisement— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE WERE TOLD “Ticketmaster's Verified Fan platform has been used more than 400 times to qualify buyers and reduce the % of tickets on the secondary market.
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
Using Verified Fan scalping is regularly reduced by 80%, with typically fewer than 5% of tickets on the secondary market after a Verified Fan campaign. Listed below are a few of the artists who have effectively used VF to limit resale.”
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WE WERE CONVINCED THAT TICKETMASTER'S "Verified Fan Page” AND "Face Value Ticket Exchange” IDEAS COULD HELP US FIGHT THE SCALPERS
Advertisement— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
(WE DIDN’T AGREE TO THE 'DYNAMIC PRICING' / 'PRICE SURGING’ / ‘PLATINUM TICKET' THING… BECAUSE IT IS ITSELF A BIT OF A SCAM? A SEPARATE CONVERSATION!)
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
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…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
…AND/OR WE SHOULD PLAY MORE/BIGGER SHOWS? HA!!! ONWARDS…
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
HAVE BEEN TOLD "We will continue to sell tickets to those who are verified until there are no more tickets to sell" -X
Advertisement— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
WHAT I MEANT BY THIS BIT WAS… I HAD A SEPARATE CONVERSATION ABOUT 'PLATINUM', TO SEE IF I HAD MISUNDERSTOOD SOMETHING… BUT I HADN'T! IT IS A GREEDY SCAM – AND ALL ARTISTS HAVE THE CHOICE NOT TO PARTICIPATE… IF NO ARTISTS PARTICIPATED, IT WOULD CEASE TO EXIST X https://t.co/Kj7hjkRGn1
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023
I AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY'S TICKETMASTER 'FEES' DEBACLE. 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
— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 16, 2023
