Neil Young has publicly called out Ticketmaster for its high ticket prices.
In a new post titled “Concert Touring Is Broken” on his website, the 77-year-old singer wrote: “It’s over. The old days are gone.”
“I get letters blaming me for $3,000 (£2,443) tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped-off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers.
“Concert tours are no longer fun. Concert tours not what they were.”
Young’s post also consists of a news article highlighting The Cure’s recent Ticketmaster debacle for the “Verified Fan” sale for their upcoming tour.
“I am as sickened as you all are by today’s Ticketmaster ‘fees’ debacle,” frontman Robert Smith tweeted on 15 March. “To be very clear: The artist has no way to limit them. I have been asking how they are justified. If I get anything coherent by way of an answer I will let you all know.”
The next day, Smith issued an update saying: “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.”
Last year, Ticketmaster came under fire after the company’s website crashed when Taylor Swift released tickets for her tour, leaving thousands of fans devastated.
Many fans also sued the company for the presale ticket fiasco for Swift’s Eras Tour, which kicked off in Glendale, Arizona on 17 March.
Earlier this year, Young’s music was removed from Spotify after he protested against the spread of Covid misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience.
The singer published a since-removed open letter addressed to his manager and record label, which said: “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, [The Joe Rogan Experience], which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence.
“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”
“I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform… They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
