The Cure frontman and songwriter Robert Smith has called out Ticketmaster over their ridiculous prices and admin fees, which are pricing music lovers out of being able to see their favourite bands.
It was only on Wednesday that he criticised the ticket operator’s ‘Platinum’ tier, labelling it a “greedy scam” and now following news of fans being hit with extortionate admin fees and additional charges, Smith said he has been left “sickened” by the whole “debacle”.
Taking to Twitter in response to countless fans sharing their scandalous experiences, the 63-year-old insisted “I am sickened as you all are… To be clear: the artist has no way to limit them.”
Having arisen from the band’s decision to use Ticketmaster‘s ‘Verified Fan’ system in an effort to combat scalpers and ticket touting, Smith went on to insist he has asked for justification and that he will keep people posted if gets any serious updates.
As mentioned, The Cure opted to use the new system to help combat the increasingly obstructive scalping culture pervading live music and hopefully help more fans get their hands on tickets.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, the unfortunate result of this system is that instead of people having to resort to buying them for resellers at a massively marked-up price, the original face value of tickets is just being hugely inflated by the company’s ‘facility charges’, ‘service’ and ‘ordering processing fees’.
Countless Cure fans have since jumped on social media to complain about the cost of their tickets on their current US tour dates, despite the band having intentionally set the price to just $20 following long-running frustrations over gig-goers either missing out or being priced out.
ADVERTISEMENT
In some cases, the original ticket has more than doubled as a result of Ticketmaster’s fees.
Ticketmaster has come under fire quite regularly of late for unpopular business practices like these, facing multiple lawsuits and even a Senate hearing in America over “unprecedented” claims of fraud that forced legitimate ticket holders to be banned from a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City.
Having merged with Live Nation back in 2010, the parent organisation was hit with an “antitrust investigation” by the US Justice Department for potential abuse of power. In 2019 they were found to have repeatedly violated a 10-year decree to refrain from ‘monopolistic practices’ and famously went on to be wrapped up in the Astroworld Tragedy.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Blackpool-born rock legend has now confirmed that resale company “StubHub has pulled listings in all markets except [New York], Chicago, Denver (i.e. sites that have laws protecting scalpers)”, going on to add that like with premium tiers, if people didn’t buy from scalpers these issues wouldn’t arise.
It goes without saying that music for is everyone — it shouldn’t be a case of people having to take make themselves skint to listen to their favourite artist.
Featured Image — Robert Smith (via Instagram)/NME (via YouTube)
Audio
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
Daisy Jackson
Niall Horan will be back in Manchester this year on a huge newly-announced European arena tour.
The former One Direction star (and chart-topper in his own right) has just announced his Dinner Party Live On Tour tour.
The tour comes in support of his upcoming fourth solo studio album, Dinner Party, which promises to be ‘cinematic and organic’.
Niall Horan will be performing at the Co-op Live in Manchester this September, along with gigs in other UK cities including Sheffield, Glasgow, and Newcastle.
He’ll then head right across Europe, playing music from his multi-Platinum-selling songbook.
Niall first shot to fame as one-fifth of One Direction, but has one of the group’s strongest solo careers, with three chart-topping albums and massive hits like Slow Hands, Heaven, and Our Song.
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
He’s also worked on some exciting collaborations with the likes of Anne-Marie, and most recently Myles Smith.
£1 from every ticket sold for Niall Horan’s Dinner Party tour will be donated to the LIVE Trust, which is dedicated to protecting, expanding, and supporting grassroots music across the UK.
Niall Horan will be at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Friday 25 September.
Tickets will go on sale from 10am on Thursday 2 April HERE.
Danny Jones -
16th March 2023 
