MUSIC
Robert Smith reports 7,000 scalped tickets have been canceled for upcoming Cure tour
The frontman has been working to ensure that fans buy tickets, not scalpers
The Cure’s upcoming ‘Songs from a Lost World’ tour is set to begin next month, but the drama to buy tickets at a reasonable price has been at the forefront of many fans’ minds.
Over the past two weeks, Robert Smith, frontman and lead guitarist for the band, has been in talks with Ticketmaster to put an end to unfair ticket price gouging.
After he managed to get the ticket company to refund fans a portion of the high fees added to ticket prices, he’s now reporting that 7,000 scalped tickets have been canceled for the upcoming tour dates.
Scalpers begin selling Ticketmaster accounts with tickets
Despite the band’s efforts to stop scalpers, it appears that many were still able to get their hands on tickets, getting through the system by selling entire Ticketmaster accounts (usernames and passwords) to fans at exaggerated prices.
As of March 31, Smith reports that 7,000 of these fraudulent tickets have been canceled, going back into the system to be purchased by legitimate fans.
The Cure’s attempt to avoid scalpers
For their upcoming North American tour, The Cure opted to use Ticketmaster’s new Verified Fan service, which aims to stop scalpers from purchasing tickets and reselling them for three times the original ticket price.
But on March 14, when fans who were lucky to receive a code granting them access to the early Verified Fan ticket sale, many were shocked to find that Ticketmaster’s fees doubled or more than doubled the total cost of the actual tickets.
Ticket prices were set by the band and were kept deliberately low, with the lowest-priced tickets going for $20. This marks a change from other artists who use dynamic pricing which is based on demand, resulting in ticket prices that go up to thousands of dollars.
Smith kept fans up to date, eventually informing them that they would be receiving refunds of either $5 per ticket, for the lowest-priced tickets, or $10 for other tickets. When fans bought tickets in cities where Ticketmaster mistakenly allowed dynamic pricing, they were also refunded to face value prices.