The Cure convince Ticketmaster to refund fees
The Cure have persuaded Ticketmaster to offer partial refunds for “unduly high” ticketing fees charged in the Verified Fan sale for the band’s upcoming North American tour.
The firm had come in for criticism during this week’s sale when ticket-holders posted screenshots online showing some fees exceeding the cost of the tickets themselves.
Ticket prices started at $20 (€18.80) as the group wanted the tour “to be affordable for all fans”, but the BBC cited examples such as one customer who bought four $20 tickets ended up paying $172,10 (€161.78), after service fees, a facility charge and an order processing fee were added.
Posting yesterday (16 March) on Twitter, The Cure’s frontman Robert Smith said he was “sickened” by the “debacle”. “To be very clear: the artist has no way to limit them,” he wrote. “I have been asking how they were justified. If I get anything coherent by way of answer I will let you all know.”
However, Smith later reported that, as a “gesture of goodwill”, Ticketmaster had agreed to offer refunds of $5-10.
“After further conversation, Ticketmaster have agreed with us that many of the fees being charged are unduly high, and as a gesture of goodwill have offered a $10 per ticket refund to all Verified Fan accounts for lowest ticket price (‘LTP’) transactions, and a $5 per ticket refund to all Verified Fan accounts for all other ticket price transactions,” says Smith.
“For all Cure shows at all venues; if you already bought a ticket you will get an automatic refund; all tickets on sale tomorrow will incur lower fees.”
“It’s about giving that power back to the artists, making sure they have the right to decide how their tickets are distributed and how their tickets are sold”
The legendary British band begin their first full-scale US and Canada run since 2016 at New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center on 10 May. The 30-date tour is due to wrap up at the Miami-Dade Arena in Miami on 1 July.
The group have made tickets for shows non transferable where possible, in an effort to clamp down on touting. In addition, they say that “apart from a few Hollywood Bowl charity seats, there will be no ‘platinum’ or ‘dynamically priced’ tickets” sold.
Last month, Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation launched the Fair Ticketing Act, which says that artists should decide resale rules and calls for industry-wide all-in pricing so fans see the full cost they are paying up front, and has been backed by live giants such as CAA, UTA, Wasserman Music and WME.
LN president and CFO Joe Berchtold discussed the push for ticketing reforms in an interview at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom Conference last week.
“It’s about giving that power back to the artists, making sure they have the right to decide how their tickets are distributed and how their tickets are sold,” he said, “and a lot of common sense measures that we understand the scalpers are going to fight against because it goes to the heart of their ability to unfairly get tickets and get between the artist and the fan.
“We’re 100% confident that, as light is shined on this industry, it’s going to really demonstrate that we’ve been doing things on behalf of the artists and we’re continuing to fight in that vein – and I think, ultimately, that wins.”
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Biden demands crackdown on ‘excessive’ ticket fees
US president Joe Biden is calling for a crackdown on “excessive” ticket fees for concerts and other entertainment events.
Biden proposed a “Junk Fee Prevention Act” as part of a meeting of the White House Competition Council this week, saying hidden or unexpected fees “are not only costly to consumers, but they can stifle competition by encouraging companies to use increasingly sophisticated tools to disguise the true price consumers face”.
According to the New York Times, the president is specifically asking Congress “to prohibit excessive fees, require the fees to be disclosed in the ticket price and mandate disclosure of any ticket holdbacks that diminish available supply”.
“Many online ticket sellers impose massive service fees at check-out that are not disclosed when consumers are choosing their tickets,” says a White House statement. “In a review of 31 different sporting events across five ticket sellers’ websites, service charges averaged more than 20% of the ticket’s face value, and total fees – like processing fees, delivery fees, and facility fees – reached up to more than half the cost of the ticket itself. A family of four attending a show could end up paying far more than $100 in fees above and beyond the cost of the tickets.”
“The president urges Congress to act now to reduce these fees through legislation”
The president’s plea to Congress follows his call for the reduction or elimination of hidden fees, charges and add-ons at a previous meeting last autumn. His latest statement comes just a week after Live Nation president and CFO Joe Berchtold was grilled about the company’s practices by a US Senate antitrust panel following the Ticketmaster-Taylor Swift Eras Tour presale controversy.
During last week’s hearing, LN’s Berchtold expressed the company’s support for transparent ticketing fees. “We should mandate all-in pricing so that fans see the full cost of their tickets from the start,” he said.
“While antitrust enforcement agencies have the authority to investigate and address anti-competitive conduct in the industry, the president urges Congress to act now to reduce these fees through legislation,” adds the White House statement. “Specifically, the president is calling on congress to prohibit excessive fees, require the fees to be disclosed in the ticket price, and mandate disclosure of any ticket holdbacks that diminish available supply.”
“We stand ready to work with the president and Congress on many common sense ticketing reforms”
Ticketmaster has released a new statement, saying it “strongly supports ticketing reforms that will benefit artists and fans, prevent fraud, and clean up fraudulent practices in resale markets”.
“These basic steps should be the things everyone agrees on, including mandating all-in pricing and outlawing speculative ticketing,” add a spokesperson. “We stand ready to work with the president and Congress on many common sense ticketing reforms, while also speaking out against proposed legislation that would benefit scalpers over artists and fans.”
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