On Tuesday, ticket holders began receiving an automatic refund of between $5 and $10, according to tweets from fans.
鈥淭his is an encouraging precedent, even if it鈥檚 no substitute for needed regulation,鈥 , a U.S. non-profit working to ensure that artists are fairly and transparently compensated.
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鈥淎rtists take heed: when you speak up (with both conviction and nuance), you can make new things possible.鈥
The showdown between The Cure and Ticketmaster started last week, when the influential British band announced plans to keep ticket prices for their North American tour, which includes a 海角社区官网stop, affordable, with tickets being sold for as little as $20.
But fans looking to grab the cheap seats were faced with a bundle of service fees that in some cases cost more than the ticket itself.
Smith quickly took to Twitter to express his frustration with Ticketmaster.
鈥淚 AM AS SICKENED AS YOU ALL ARE BY TODAY鈥橲 TICKETMASTER 鈥楩EES鈥 DEBACLE. TO BE VERY CLEAR: THE ARTIST HAS NO WAY TO LIMIT THEM,鈥 he wrote on March 14.
Last Thursday, Smith provided fans with an update, tweeting that The amount might not be much, but fans appreciate Smith鈥檚 effort nonetheless.
Smith is the latest high profile artist to go to war with Ticketmaster over high ticket prices and availability.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,鈥 . 鈥淚t鈥檚 truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.鈥
In December, a group of Swift fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster, alleging that its parent company Live Nation Entertainment Inc. engaged in fraud, price-fixing and antitrust-law violations as well as 鈥渋ntentionally and purposefully mislead(ing) ticket purchasers by allowing scalpers and bots access to TaylorSwiftTix presale.鈥
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Richie Assaly is a former culture reporter for the
Star.
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