Neil Young Ceases Sales of “Platinum” Tickets Following Robert Smith’s Advice from The Cure

Neil Young Takes a Stand Against Platinum Ticket Sales

Neil Young has taken it upon himself to stop the sale of platinum tickets for his future tours, inspired by Robert Smith from The Cure.

Concerns Over Ticket Scalping

The tickets in question are distributed through platforms like Ticketmaster, aimed at curbing advertising and scalpers from purchasing premium tickets and reselling them at elevated prices in the secondary market.

Smith highlighted in an interview with Time last year that he perceived “platinum” tickets along with the dynamic pricing model as “fraud” driven by “greed.”

“I thought: ‘We do not need to earn all this money,’” Smith said. “You don’t want to charge as much as the market will bear. If people save money on tickets, they can spend it on beer or merchandise. This creates goodwill, and they will come back next time. It fosters a positive atmosphere, and I don’t understand why more people aren’t doing this.”

Responding to Smith’s comments on his Archive site, Young expressed his belief that “platinum” tickets are detrimental as they extract excessive money from his fans.

“My management and agent have always tried to look out for me on the road, securing the best offers they could,” he wrote. “They attempted to protect me and my fans from scalpers who grab the best tickets and sell them at inflated prices.”

“Ticketmaster’s platinum tickets were introduced in markets where scalpers purchased the bulk of tickets. The money came to me, and it felt wrong. Very soon, platinum tickets will no longer be offered for my shows.”

“I decided to let people figure it out themselves,” he added. “Buy aggressively when tickets are released or risk paying much more in the secondary market.”

The British government has committed to addressing the issues surrounding dynamic pricing, condemning it amid concerns raised during the sale of OASIS tickets last summer.

Meanwhile, Young plans to tour the UK and Europe this summer as part of his “Love Earth” world tour alongside Chrome Hearts. This includes his headlining performance at the Glastonbury festival in June and headlining Bill Gide Park BST next month, where Yusuf/Kate Stevens and Van Morrison will also join him.

Young recently released his first track with Chrome Hearts, titled “Big Change.” Since then, he has provided updates on his debut album with the group, expressing hopes for a release in April ahead of the summer tour.

He also shared a trailer for his upcoming documentary Coastal, directed by Daryl Hannah, which takes viewers behind the scenes of his 2023 tour bearing the same name and is set to hit theaters on April 17.