In recent years, The Cure's Robert Smith has spoken out about the changing touring and ticketing market. In 2023, the singer convinced Ticketmaster to give partial refunds to fans who had bought tickets for her Songs Of A Lost World tour, in response to “unreasonably high” fees. For their run of US dates, the band had kept the prices deliberately low to remain affordable, with some prices as low as $20, but the fees at times exceeded the value of the ticket.
In a new, lengthy interview, first published on The TimesSmith further commented on Ticketmaster's practices, specifically their dynamic pricing model.
“I was shocked at how much profit is being made [by ticketing]Smith said. “I thought, 'We don't need to make all this money.' My fights with the label were all about how we can price things lower. The only reason you'd charge more for a gig is if you were worried it was the last time you could sell a T-shirt.”
He continued: “But if you had faith in yourself that you'd still be here in a year, you'd want the show to be great so people would come back. You don't want to charge as much as the market will allow. If people save on tickets, they buy beer or merchandise. There is good will, they will come back next time. It's a self-fulfilling good vibe and I don't understand why more people don't do it.”
“It was easy to set the ticket prices, but you have to be scrappy. We didn't allow dynamic pricing because it's a scam that would go away if every artist said, “I don't want this!” But most artists hide behind management. “Oh, we didn't know,” they say. Everyone knows. If they say they don't, they're either stupid or lying. It's just driven by greed.”
You can watch the whole thing interview with Smith on The Cure's website.
The Cure release their first album in 16 years, Songs Of A Lost World, on November 1st and the LP will be accompanied by a series of shows in London the week of the release. The band have shared two songs from the record so far, with “Alone” and “A Fragile Thing.”
Smith's comments come shortly after the controversial sale of tickets for Oasis' 2025 reunion tour. Dynamic pricing was used in the process for the band's 19 UK and Ireland venues, resulting in increased ticket prices and fans they were forced to make quick decisions prices that were higher than originally advertised.
The fallout and fan anger prompted the UK Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the use of tactical selling. Oasis, who will play a string of shows next summer around the world, have moved away from the dynamic pricing model and opted not to use the method for their North American dates, which were released earlier this month.
Ticketmaster introduced the dynamic pricing scale in 2022 in an effort to help combat sell-offs and the secondary ticket market. The company insists that bands and promoters set ticket prices and that dynamic pricing is only used with approval from the artist's team.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/the-cure-robert-smith-ticketmaster-dynamic-pricing-1235799584/
