The Cure’s Robert Smith Talks of “Problems” and “Scams” in the Ticket Industry

As the tickets for The Cure’s much-awaited North American tour go live today at 10 AM across several time zones through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform, many fans found themselves either triumphant or stranded on the notorious waitlist to gain access. A quick perusal of social media unveiled the multitudes of fans in anticipation, many of whom were already relegated to the waitlist.

The situation was further exacerbated by numerous resale websites listing The Cure tickets at outrageous prices even before the official sales began, sowing chaos and confusion. Robert Smith, always a champion of affordability, promptly addressed the issue. He took to Twitter with his signature all-caps style, cautioning fans about the con artists lurking in the “secondary ticket market.”

Smith continued the discourse on Twitter, shedding light on the band’s decision to employ Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system. Recognizing its imperfections, Smith elaborated on how Verified Fan aims to combat scalpers and ensure that fans have access to tickets at a fair price. The Cure maintained control over ticket pricing and steered clear of “dynamic pricing” and “platinum ticket” ploys.

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…

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. 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.”

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. 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.”

WE WERE CONVINCED THAT TICKETMASTER’S “Verified Fan Page” AND “Face Value Ticket Exchange” IDEAS COULD HELP US FIGHT THE SCALPERS

(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!)

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…

Regarding concerns that there would only be a set number of tickets for the Verified Fan Presale, Smith also clarified that Ticketmaster told him: “We will continue to sell tickets to those who are verified until there are no more tickets to sell.”

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.”

— 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

— 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

— ROBERT SMITH (@RobertSmith) March 15, 2023

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