It’s an issue that artists are increasingly having to have an opinion on. But in case we weren’t sure before, Robert Smith has come out decisively against ‘dynamic pricing’
In a new interview on his own website, Smith has described the practice as a “scam”. He describes what happened when he insisted on a pricing system with Ticketmaster where by some tickets for Cure shows could be as low as $25.
“I wanted younger people to be able to afford to come and see us,” he says. “And then they were loading those tickets, they were charging more in fees and more and all this other stuff. So we didn't allow dynamic pricing, because it’s a scam.”
“Every artist could say that - ‘I don’t want that’ - and it would disappear. But you know artists hide behind management.”
In the interview, Smith talks about his guiding philosophy in terms of the pricing of tickets and merchandise.
“Keeping a control over prices has always played a part ever since we moved way from Fiction (Records)... I was shocked, actually, at how much profit is made on everything. It's absolutely astonishing. So I thought, well, we don't need to make all this money on everything.
“It reached a point now that I'm pretty much doing everything myself, because you know, it's easier for me to just to say yes or no, because I know how it all works. I'd say don't be ridiculous. I know how much it costs to do that. We're not charging that, so it was very easy just to set ticket prices. It's still a battle. I mean, you still have to spend an awful lot of time, because the other side will try and wear you down.”
Smith relates how, when he insisted $25 tickets should cost, well, $25, Ticketmaster constantly attempted to add fees on. “'Where are these fees going?’ I said, look, if all this is true, why don't you just tell people what the fees are for, put it on the front of the website say, like, 'you're gonna pay $25 for the ticket. That's what the band are charging, and we're gonna charge you $27.50 you know, to sweep the car park'. In the end I managed to wear them down. It just drove me crazy. So it takes an awful lot to get me angry. “
The Cure release Songs Of A Lost World on November 1. It’s the first Cure album for 16 years, since 2008’s 4:13 Dream, though as you might have gathered, the band have been a regular touring presence during the years in between.
