I HAD A SEPARATE CONVERSATION ABOUT ‘PLATINUM’, TO SEE IF I HAD MISUNDERSTOOD SOMETHING… BUT I HADN’T! IT IS A GREEDY SCAM – AND ALL ARTISTS HAVE THE CHOICE NOT TO PARTICIPATE… IF NO ARTISTS PARTICIPATED, IT WOULD CEASE TO EXIST X
Robert Smith – Twitter
This week’s adventure of buying tickets to see The Cure has been full of wild mood swings. Throughout the process, The Cure’s frontman, Robert Smith, has engaged fans on social media and provided a rare, honest peak behind the curtain of live entertainment. In doing so, he has laid to waste any argument that TicketMaster and concert promoters care even the slightest about the satisfaction of their customers. While this isn’t news to most music fans, the plain language used by Smith has put other artists on alert that their fans might be far less interested in forking over hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to see them on their next tour.
The process of Verified Fan would be more slightly tolerable if the name of it was changed to something like Verified Lottery as the actual process has nothing to do with actual fandom. The glory days of camping out in line so first camped is first served will never return (and as much as I loved it at the time, I’m no longer a high school kid with time to burn). So, there will always be a huge demand for tickets when they go on sale. A random drawing to assign order to buyers is a necessary evil. Just don’t call it Verified Fan because anyone can sign up for it. Like most good fans of The Cure, I signed up and picked the city I could attend (Phoenix) and a few I could maybe make if I could find a decent flight. The wait was on.
The night before the on-sale, I, like many, was told I was on the waitlist. Looking back now, I think most people were assigned to the waitlist as a way to limit traffic to the TicketMaster website. I was frustrated and that frustration turned to despair two hours after the on sale when I was still without a ticket. As much as I want to see The Cure, watching Robert Smith fight the good fight and strive to protect fans actually made me want to see the band even more. The integrity of an artist matters and here is an iconic artist who could sell out the tour at twice the ticket prices being charged.
A little more than six hours after the on sale had begun, I suddenly noticed a text on my phone that I was off the wait list. I hit the link as a rush of adrenaline flooded my brain. I grabbed two tickets that had a good sightline and hit pay. I was so surprised by the low price that I double-checked that I was buying two tickets and not one. Yes, the TicketMaster fees were exorbitant but my plastic flask saves me a lot of money on cocktails at a show so challenge accepted. I went to the Phoenix venue’s website to look at my seats and realized the sections were totally different. I missed the part of the text where I was approved to buy for Salt Lake City!
Before I could even be angry, my phone beeped again and, of course, I was now able to buy for Phoenix. Back into the fray I went and I soon had two lower level seats at a very reasonable price. I finished the day happily sharing Robert Smith’s tweets and discussing the tour with other fans. Despite feeling anxious, deflated, and frustrated at times, the on-sale went fairly smooth. Using the TicketMaster app was seamless for a change and the ticket prices are about what I was paying to see bands several decades ago. I went to bed very happy.
In the morning, Robert Smith was still busy on social media seeking answers about the exorbitant fees charged by TicketMaster. I took a second peek at the Phoenix on-sale and new seats appeared! There were $100 tickets on the front-edge of the stage to the side. It’s a place I’ve sat for many shows as I enjoy seeing the production of a show and how crew and artist pull it all together. I bought two more knowing I would be able to pass the other two tickets on to a fan at face-value safely. Could this get any better? Apparently, yes.
As I type this, I am laughing about Robert Smith’s most recent tweet that we are getting refunded part of the ticket fees that TicketMaster charged each fan. This artist has not only proven that established bands who have made millions throughout their career can charge far less for a concert ticket, he has taken on TicketMaster and forced them to concede that their fees are nothing more than a way of fleecing music fans out of money (which we all knew). No dynamic pricing. No platinum seats. And now, even lower ticket fees. Robert Smith has struck a huge blow against how the industry has been operating. So, what happens next?
Personally, this experience has opened my eyes to just how much I’ve spent on concert experiences in recent years and it makes me question whether I’ll choose to do that in the future. With the money saved on tickets for this tour, I can now see three or four smaller tours (ACTORS just announced Las Vegas!) and still be under what some 80s bands are currently charging for tickets. It also challenges upcoming tours to respond accordingly. When U2 announces their Vegas shows, what will ticket prices look like? Post-Robert Smith’s TicketMaster War, fans will be a lot less welcoming to $400 ticket prices for decent seats and I will be very curious how any artist defends allowing tickets to be re-sold for more than face value.
Of course, Smith wants his fans to have an amazing experience at his shows and the cost of a ticket impacts the overall experience. However, what he has done also impacts smaller acts who are fighting to earn a living in this industry. When all your disposable income is tied up in 2-3 arena shows per year, the artists working the club circuit loses out. The Cure have not only exposed TicketMaster as a useless monopoly, they have challenged other established acts to think about how their ticket pricing trickles down and impacts the ability of the next great band to earn a living. Now, it is up to us, the music fans, to hold the line and force real change. If we refuse to buy from ticket brokers, if we refuse to buy platinum priced seats, if we support young bands grinding it out in a van, music will survive and flourish. Are you with me?