Photo Credit: Kevin Spencer / CC by 2.0
The Cure says that tickets for their first US show in seven years will be non-transferrable in an effort to keep them at face value.
As The Cure prepares to embark on their first US tour in seven years, the English rock band announces their tickets will be non-transferrable, part of an effort to help ensure tickets only sell for face value and that fans won’t pay inflated prices.
“We want the tour to be affordable for all fans, and we have a very wide (and we think very fair) range of pricing at every show,” the band tweeted on Friday. “Our ticketing partners have agreed to help us stop scalpers from getting in the way; to help minimize resale and keep prices at face value, tickets for this tour will not be transferrable. If something comes up that prevents a fan from being able to use a ticket they have purchased, they will be able to resell it on a face value ticket exchange.”
The band specified Thursday that they would not sell platinum or dynamically-priced tickets, the existence of which has frustrated many concert-goers in recent years as the practice becomes more widespread. Combined with non-transferability to limit the secondary market, the band hopes to mitigate the common ways fans get stuck paying premiums when buying tickets for highly sought-after shows.
The Cure’s actions come amid heightened discussion surrounding the ticketing process. Live Nation’s Ticketmaster has faced increasing scrutiny from fans and lawmakers alike, who question whether the company has created a monopoly in the live music industry.
Issues have included alleged violations of its consent decree from Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s merger more than a decade ago — which Live Nation has repeatedly denied — and high ticket fees, leaving its push for a policy that ultimately seems to benefit it over secondary ticketing companies like StubHub to be questionable. Meanwhile, what’s to say that non-transferrable tickets offer the best experience for fans? Many fans would rather give away tickets if an evening falls through, rather than eating the cost of the tickets.