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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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Twenty One Pilots confirm swirling rumours and announce huge Manchester date
Daisy Jackson
Twenty One Pilots have officially announced a massive Manchester gig on their The Clancy World Tour, after fans spotted poster teasers popping up at venues around the UK.
They’ll be coming to Manchester’s AO Arena on the tour, the first time they’ve gigged here since The Bandito Tour back in 2019.
It’s set to be their biggest-ever headline tour, visiting other cities around the UK and Ireland including Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, and London.
Twenty One Pilots will also head around North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.
The pair have announced more than 33 billion streams worldwide and sold more than three million tickets for their headline tours.
Comprised of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, they’ve established themselves as one of the most successful bands of the 21st century.
Twenty One Pilots have also shared a new song, Next Semester, from their forthcoming album Clancy.
The album will be the final chapter in an ambitious multi-album narrative first introduced in the band’s 2015 multi-Platinum breakthrough, Blurryface.
An official artist presale for tickets will begin on 3 April for European dates.
All remaining tickets will then go on general sale at 10am on Friday 5 April.
Richard Ashcroft announces six support acts for homecoming gigs at Wigan’s Robin Park
Danny Jones
Manc music legend Richard Ashcroft has revealed a slate of very exciting support acts for his upcoming homecoming gigs at Robin Park in Wigan.
With an extra date being added on 21 July due to overwhelming demand after the Saturday show sold out in a flash back in December 2023, Ashcroft has now revealed a total of six different supports, promising three different artists per gig.
And we’re not just talking any old warm-up acts; the former Verve frontman has hand-picked an all Northern lineup as well as two local Wigan acts to show support for his hometown’s own music scene.
Joining him on the first night at Robin Park will be British indie rock veterans Cast, rising Liverpool stars Red Rum Club and fellow Wiganer Maxwell Varey.
We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the Red Rum lads and have been listening to them since day one, so we’ll always sincerely reccommend them.
As for Cast, they’ve been going since 1992 and have put out so many chill tunes down the years – ‘Walkaway’, ‘Alright’ and ‘Live The Dream’ just to name a few – so you can always rely on them to put in a solid set.
It’s also great to see the 52-year-old Britpop icon backing up and coming artists from his neck of the woods too and, we can’t lie, everything we’ve heard from Varey so far is sounding pretty good.
Strolling into Sunday Bittersweet Symphony-style, Ashcroft‘s supports are just as good the following night as well, with The Zutons providing a real throwback vibe, The Royston Club being one of our favourite new acts (that debut album last year slaps) and Stanleys taking care of repping Wigan.
The significance of Richard Ashcroft’s homecoming for the area cannot be overstated as not only will it be one of the biggest weekends of live music the borough has seen in years but it’s also the first time he’ll have played in Wigan since 1998.
Yep, it’s a big deal.
While the Saturday might be well and truly sold out, there are still some general admission tickets left for Sunday, 21 July. You can grab yours HERE.
And for all the other big music news happening around Greater Manchester, make sure to keep your eyes peeled on The Manc Audio.