The Cure’s Robert Smith has accused artists of being either ‘f***ing stupid or lying’ over the hated ‘dynamic pricing’ as he says the ticketing system is ‘driven by greed’.
The frontman, 65, says bands are ‘hiding behind management’ when they say they do not know how much fans are being charged to see them in concert.
Talking to The Sunday Times ahead of The Cure’s first album release in 16 years, he said he was ‘shocked’ by how much profit was made and added: ‘We don’t need all this money.’
In an eye-opening accusation, Smith said every artist knows the extortionate amount that tickets are being hiked.
‘But most artists hide behind management. “Oh, we didn’t know,” they say,’ he said.
‘They all know. If they say they do not, they’re either f***ing stupid or lying. It’s just driven by greed.’
The Cure’s Robert Smith has accused artists of being either ‘f***ing stupid or lying’ over the hated ‘dynamic pricing’ as he says the ticketing system is ‘driven by greed’
Liam (left) and Noel Gallagher (right) were criticised by fans over the dynamic pricing ticketing chaos
The outspoken frontman has been scathing in the past about dynamic pricing – introduced by Ticketmaster in 2022 which works by altering the cost of tickets based on demand.
Last year Smith managed to convince Ticketmaster to pay out $10 refunds after some people had forked out ‘unduly high fees’ to go see the rock band on their US tour.
The Cure had set the prices themselves for the tour and purposefully kept them low so they were affordable.
Smith issued a statement direct to the band’s fans saying he was ‘sickened as you all are’ as he took Ticketmaster to task over the price hike that saw fees being piled onto $20 tickets.
He told The Sunday Times today that if other bands didn’t allow dynamic pricing then with would simply ‘disappear’.
‘It was easy to set ticket prices, but you need to be pig-headed,’ Smith said.
The hated dynamic pricing last month left Oasis fans seething with some turning on Liam and Noel Gallagher for raking in profits from the controversial ticketing system.
An estimated 14million Oasis fans spent ‘Supersonic Saturday’ desperately battling it out to get their hands on tickets to see the brothers reunite on stage for a mammoth tour around the UK and Ireland next year.
In an eye-opening accusation, Smith said every artist knows the extortionate amount that tickets are being hiked
Last year Smith managed to convince Ticketmaster to pay out $10 refunds after some people had forked out ‘unduly high fees’ to go see the rock band on their US tour
Liam and Noel Gallagher, pictured here at the V Festival in Chelmsford in Essex in August 2005, have not played together after Oasis broke up in 2009
Furious Oasis fans took to social media to criticise prices on Ticketmaster after they went up due to ‘dynamic pricing’
But eager fans were left raging after the price of standing tickets went up from £150 face value to £355 within hours due to the huge demand.
Fans described Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing as an ‘absolute disgrace’ and lashed out at the company’s bosses which include CEO Michael Rapino, UK managing director Andrew Parsons, president Mark Yovich and COO Michael Wichser.
Oasis later blamed their management for the fiasco and said they were ‘not aware’ the system would be used.
The Gallaghers said that the decision was instead made during meetings between Ticketmaster, promoters and their management.
Oasis said in September of the chaotic ticket sale: ‘As for the well reported complaints many buyers had over the operation of dynamic ticketing: it needs to be made clear that Oasis leave decisions on ticketing and pricing entirely to their promoters and management, and at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used.
‘While prior meetings between promoters, Ticketmaster and the band’s management resulted in a positive ticket sale strategy, which would be a fair experience for fans, including dynamic ticketing to help keep general ticket prices down as well as reduce touting, the execution of the plan failed to meet expectations.
‘All parties involved did their utmost to deliver the best possible fan experience, but due to the unprecedented demand this became impossible to achieve.’
Although it has regularly been used in America, dynamic ticket pricing is a relatively new phenomenon in the UK and has already enraged the fans of Bruce Springsteen and Harry Styles.
One of the first real outcries over the fluctuating prices of tour tickets with ‘dynamic pricing’ came in 2018 during sales for Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour
Bruce Springsteen was previously known for setting fan-friendly ticket prices after a public spat with Ticketmaster in 2009
But other artists have come out to criticise the system, including Pearl Jam and singer-songwriter Neil Young. Singer Tom Grennan said in 2022 that he had ‘dismissed all VIP and platinum ticket options’ due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to make concert tickets ‘at a price people can afford‘ following the row over the Oasis dynamic pricing.
The Prime Minister promised to ‘grip this’, hinting in September at possible changes to legislation to stop fans being fleeced.
He said: ‘This is a problem for tickets for all sorts of events where people go online straight away as soon as they can and within seconds sometimes, if sometimes minutes, all the tickets are gone and the prices start going through the roof, which means many people can’t afford it.
‘On that, I do think there are a number of things that we can do and we should do because otherwise you get to the situation where families simply can’t go or are absolutely spending a fortune on tickets, whatever it may be.
‘So we’ll grip this and make sure that actually, tickets are available at a price that people can actually afford.’
