The Cure Announce Their Retirement…in 2029
The Cure is calling it a day, but not quite yet.
Robert Smith shared that news with The Times saying, “I’m 70 in 2029, and that’s it, that really is it. If I make it that far, that’s it.”
That sort of morbid comment aside, The Cure certainly isn’t showing signs of slowing down yet. Last month, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band announced a new album, Songs of a Lost World. The album comes 16 years after their last LP, 2008’s 4:13 Dream. The new studio album is now available for pre-order/pre-save in a variety of formats via TheCure.com.
The lead single, “Alone,” is a clear sign that fans are likely going to love the new album. Upon the single’s release, fans took to the YouTube comment section of the single to rave about it. One fan wrote, “Those synths and windchime takes me straight to Disintegration. Robert’s voice is just magic! Welcome Back The Cure.” Another fan gushed, “I’m 51. I have waited 16 years for this day. Now i’m sitting here like i was 16 again. My heart filled with love & hope, my eyes filled with tears, knowing that this is going to be the end of the zyklus. I love you so much! Thank you for everything… can’t wait for the 1st of November!!!”
Robert Smith and Concert Ticket Pricing
The Cure’s new album comes over a year after the band returned to touring in North America for the first time since 2016. That tour saw Smith come through in a big way for fans, some of whom ended up paying more in Ticketmaster fees than the actual price of the ticket. After the issue of fees was brought to his attention, Smith was able to negotiate with Ticketmaster for fans to receive a partial fee refund on their tickets.
Concert ticket pricing was a topic Smith further explored in his interview with The Times. He said he was “shocked” at the kinds of profits that were being made on concert tickets. Smith noted that all of the fights he’s had with record labels over the years have been about making things more affordable for fans.
Smith specifically went after the practice of dynamic pricing, which increases the prices of select tickets based on the overall demand for a given concert. He argues that the practice is a “scam” and that it would go away if every artist stood up to Ticketmaster and Live Nation and told them they refuse to allow the practice to be applied to their ticket sales. Smith also said that any artist who says they were unaware of the practice is “either f—ing stupid or lying.”
