SEATTLE — The days of crowding the box office are long gone, and now is the era of the online queue where Ticketmaster reigns supreme.
Frustrated Taylor Swift fans and even members of Congress have taken on the ticketing giant, arguing the company manipulated sales to make a profit.
Now, another internationally-renowned musician has joined the choir – Robert Smith, frontman of The Cure.
Smith blasted Ticketmaster on Twitter on Thursday, saying the fees charged for the band’s upcoming tour were “sickening.”
“I’ve been a fan since I was 12 years old,” said Chris Mirabueno, a Seattle musician and longtime fan of The Cure. “It was never a struggle like this.”
He’s seen the band perform in Seattle at least five times since 1987. But despite his best efforts, he won’t be catching them at Climate Pledge Arena on June 1.
Despite waiting in a Ticketmaster queue for hours, tickets sold out before Mirabueno could snag them. He could only get tickets for the band’s show at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.
“I’m buying a ticket for ‘x’ amount of dollars. What is this extra convenience fee for? It’s not convenient for me,” said Mirabueno. “It feels like we’re getting fee’d to death, and Ticketmaster is one of the leading culprits in that.”
Ticketmaster, in response, is now partially refunding customers for those convenience fees, promising $5 to $10 back per ticket.