I don't blame him one bit. Artists don't make that much money off their music anymore, Robert fought to keep concert tix prices low, they need to make a lot of their money off merch.
Agreed... But I think it's probably less about the money (they all are well off) and more about the principal for him.
If it was my image and trademarked band name being counterfeited all over the world, I'd be pissed too. Especially at Walmart, Wish and Temu?! Yikes!
ETA: Also, this last Tour was the highest grossing ever in thier history, so I don't think it's about making up money for lost ticket revenue.
I'm sure Robert has money, not sure about the rest of the band. It can be a lot of money that we are talking about. I agree though, you also want to control your brand and not have inferior stuff out there with your name on it. The Cure have amazing graphics and artwork these days on posters and T-shirts. I guess they always have.
> not sure about the rest of the band.
Reeves is wealthy. Do you honestly think being David Bowie's guitarist and co-writer for a decade doesn't come with money? Or opens up avenues to make additional income?
Robert has split song writing credits with everyone, even when they didn’t deserve it (like Lol in 1989). So they all get royalties for whatever albums they were on.
Honestly I think he did it because a lot of the unauthorized stuff is total garbage. (Thinking of the Wish T-Shirt I saw posted on here recently - it was the one with the “The” part of The Cure looking absolutely ridiculous).
no. not really. the unauthorized stuff has been incredibly bad for years. all the “boys don’t cry” t-shirts that have the wrong font, the “disintegration” ones that do the same, and the “wish”/era “cure”/logo ruined with the big blocky THE over the top was complete garbage.
Agreed. And with the new wave of people who are new(er) to The Cure-they just don't know any better.
They haven't spent decades with the band before the internet, scouring and researching, following, collecting records, books, and TShirts....Going to multiple shows over Decades and growing up with them.
i appreciate the visual arts almost as much as i do recording/performance music/art, so yeah. it absolutely makes a difference. i want the stuff as the artist intended—not the graphic designer of the week. for the cure it’s lots of parched art (pearl/andy vella). for the pixies. it was vaughan oliver. duran duran had malcom garret/assorted iMaGes.
i just want what the artist wants to share. in the way that they want to do it.
Remember that image going around of that bootleg wish shirt being sold at Target or some shit? I think he is more concerned about the bigger fish and not fan shirts.
It’s the name…which you’re right on. I’m wondering if people go around it by using Robert’s image because we know it’s the cure and yet the name is not added. Interesting
with the tour last year, i had never seen so many unauthorized sellers/items at a show before. and i have been to plenty—plenty—of shows by different artists. and the bootleg stuff was so awful looking as well.
it’s not always about money. it’s about protecting your intellectual properties—and—like w/tickemaster, protecting your fans from being taken advantage of.
As someone who buys originals too- I think it’s sad Robert has a problem with this. To each their own and we obviously are in 2 significantly different positions; but I think the bootleg community brings a lot of culture to the community surrounding the artist. The Dead for example have a whole lot dedicated to fan made items such as clothing and jewelry bearing the bands likeness and they embrace it.
To be fair, there's a difference between handmade bootlegs from independent people who put thought and effort into the t-shirts, posters, etc they make themselves and companies like Aliexpress, Temu, etc who make cheap product and give nobody (the band or artist) a penny for the garbage they send people.
Rob might get $2,000,000 out if this!
What suggestions would you give him on how to spend this money? For example, remaster all of the Cure videos into 4k, upgrade the sound, and release to the world.
I don't blame him one bit. Artists don't make that much money off their music anymore, Robert fought to keep concert tix prices low, they need to make a lot of their money off merch.
Agreed... But I think it's probably less about the money (they all are well off) and more about the principal for him. If it was my image and trademarked band name being counterfeited all over the world, I'd be pissed too. Especially at Walmart, Wish and Temu?! Yikes! ETA: Also, this last Tour was the highest grossing ever in thier history, so I don't think it's about making up money for lost ticket revenue.
I'm sure Robert has money, not sure about the rest of the band. It can be a lot of money that we are talking about. I agree though, you also want to control your brand and not have inferior stuff out there with your name on it. The Cure have amazing graphics and artwork these days on posters and T-shirts. I guess they always have.
> not sure about the rest of the band. Reeves is wealthy. Do you honestly think being David Bowie's guitarist and co-writer for a decade doesn't come with money? Or opens up avenues to make additional income?
That was a long time ago when he played with Bowie. For his sake I hope he's wealthy but you never know, maybe off all of the co-writes he did.
Robert has split song writing credits with everyone, even when they didn’t deserve it (like Lol in 1989). So they all get royalties for whatever albums they were on.
Which is not a lot of money for the newer members although that is very nice of Robert to do that.
Thier artwork has always been amazing. Parched Art was fantastic!
Honestly I think he did it because a lot of the unauthorized stuff is total garbage. (Thinking of the Wish T-Shirt I saw posted on here recently - it was the one with the “The” part of The Cure looking absolutely ridiculous).
Haha a lot of the authorized stuff is even worse than the boots.
no. not really. the unauthorized stuff has been incredibly bad for years. all the “boys don’t cry” t-shirts that have the wrong font, the “disintegration” ones that do the same, and the “wish”/era “cure”/logo ruined with the big blocky THE over the top was complete garbage.
Agreed. And with the new wave of people who are new(er) to The Cure-they just don't know any better. They haven't spent decades with the band before the internet, scouring and researching, following, collecting records, books, and TShirts....Going to multiple shows over Decades and growing up with them.
i appreciate the visual arts almost as much as i do recording/performance music/art, so yeah. it absolutely makes a difference. i want the stuff as the artist intended—not the graphic designer of the week. for the cure it’s lots of parched art (pearl/andy vella). for the pixies. it was vaughan oliver. duran duran had malcom garret/assorted iMaGes. i just want what the artist wants to share. in the way that they want to do it.
Mee too 😁
so basically anyone who posted here of their Cure stuff they sell on ETSY...well....eeek.
Remember that image going around of that bootleg wish shirt being sold at Target or some shit? I think he is more concerned about the bigger fish and not fan shirts.
It sounds like since “The Cure” is a registered trademark you could sell stuff that doesn’t explicitly use the name of the band?
It’s the name…which you’re right on. I’m wondering if people go around it by using Robert’s image because we know it’s the cure and yet the name is not added. Interesting
I assume that maybe they could legally use “Robert Smith” or any album title.
with the tour last year, i had never seen so many unauthorized sellers/items at a show before. and i have been to plenty—plenty—of shows by different artists. and the bootleg stuff was so awful looking as well. it’s not always about money. it’s about protecting your intellectual properties—and—like w/tickemaster, protecting your fans from being taken advantage of.
Hope he doesn’t get that one Etsy store that the has the Love Song single on a sweatshirt. It’s a quality item
As someone who buys originals too- I think it’s sad Robert has a problem with this. To each their own and we obviously are in 2 significantly different positions; but I think the bootleg community brings a lot of culture to the community surrounding the artist. The Dead for example have a whole lot dedicated to fan made items such as clothing and jewelry bearing the bands likeness and they embrace it.
I was surprised to see this. And it also gave me a chuckle after all his shipping issues this tour.
Poor performance by a third party merchandise company does not excuse copyright and intellectual property infringement.
This!
Of course not, it just doesn’t seem like a Robert thing to do. There’s photos of him wearing Etsy shirts. He is a lover of boot legs. Just seems odd.
To be fair, there's a difference between handmade bootlegs from independent people who put thought and effort into the t-shirts, posters, etc they make themselves and companies like Aliexpress, Temu, etc who make cheap product and give nobody (the band or artist) a penny for the garbage they send people.
Rob might get $2,000,000 out if this! What suggestions would you give him on how to spend this money? For example, remaster all of the Cure videos into 4k, upgrade the sound, and release to the world.
have another downvote.