Neil Young will no longer sell platinum tickets for his shows, cites The Cure’s Robert Smith as inspiration

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts will be on tour this year, and tickets went on sale at the end of February for most dates. A big change is coming with future dates and tours though: pricey platinum tickets will not be an option. Young says the move was inspired by The Cure‘s Robert Smith, who fought to keep ticket prices, and service fees, low on the band’s 2023 Shows of a Lost World Tour.

Neil included a story about The Cure’s tour on his Archives site, and then in a second post encouraged everyone to read it. “It’s the story of the bad thing that has happened to concerts world-wide. It’s this story that really helped me to realize that I have a choice to make and can make a difference for my music loving friends.”

“My management and agent have always tried to cover my back on the road, getting me the best deals they could,” Neil continued. “They have tried to protect me and the fans from scalpers who buy the best tickets and resell them at huge increases for their own profits. Ticketmaster’s high-priced Platinum tickets were introduced to the areas where scalpers were buying the most tickets for resale. The money went to me. That did not feel right. Very soon, Platinum tickets will no longer be available for my shows. I have decided to let the people work this out. Buy aggressively when the tickets come out or tickets will cost a lot more in a secondary market.”

Neil’s tour hits Long Island’s Jones Beach on August 23 and Bethel, NY’s Bethel Center for the Arts on August 24.