Taylor Tour Ticketmaster Trauma
If you are even remotely a Swiftie, you are more than likely aware of the Eras Tour ticket disaster. There is minimal debate over who is to blame as all fingers are pointed at Ticketmaster.
How it started
In November, Taylor Swift partnered with Ticketmaster Verified Fan to offer a special pre-sale to a select group of fans. This process aimed to get tickets into the hands of fans without interference from bots. Taylor promised to make the tickets affordable with a max of $400. In theory, this seems like a great system, right? Wrong. November 15th turned out to be a disastrous day for Swifties across the nation.
November 15th
Ticketmaster reports that during the presale, thousands of “bots” flooded the system, causing crashes, extreme wait times, and countless mental breakdowns. Fans reported waiting up to 8 hours in the Ticketmaster “queue” just to be kicked out when they got to the front. Senior Avery Voelkel skipped school and spent 8 hours at home with her open computer eagerly in the Ticketmaster queue. Despite her efforts, Avery was kicked out of the system while trying to purchase her tickets. When asked about her experience with the Eras Tour Pre-sale, Voelkel responded that “November 15th was the worst day of my entire life. It was the downfall of my entire existence and it was the most I have ever cried. I was on Ticketmaster for 8 hours and was left bawling on my floor. I would rather die than go through that pain again.” Wow, that is unfortunate to hear. As seen in the picture at the top, this quote is not an overstatement. Avery was not alone in her devastation, as thousands of other fans were outraged by this process.
November 15th was the worst day of my entire life. It was the downfall of my entire existence and it was the most I have ever cried. I was on Ticketmaster for 8 hours and was left bawling on my floor. I would rather die than go through that pain again.
— Avery Voelkel
Cancelation of Regular Sale
Since Wednesday, November 15th was only the pre-sale. Swift claimed that the “regular” sale would start two days later on Friday. But, due to the mass of bots who infiltrated the pre-sale, the tour sold out and Ticketmaster CANCELLED the regular sale using Twitter.
$113,000 tickets?
Because HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of tickets got into the hands of scalpers and bots, Swift tickets were listed on other sites such as Seat Geek and Stub Hub. There were prices in the tens of thousands of dollars, including a listing of $113,850 PER TICKET at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. People are being forced to spend their entire salaries on just one ticket. Madness!! Taylor fans across the country have been robbed of their opportunity to see her last tour ever (personally I think she will go on tour again) all due to these malicious scalpers.
Potential Lawsuit
As of yesterday (December 5th), a group of 26 fans is suing Ticketmaster for “fraud, price-fixing, and antitrust violations.” The fans claim that “intentional deception” allowed scalpers to buy most of the tickets. The fans are seeking a civil fine of $2500 per violation, which could add up to a large amount given the millions of people who attempted to purchase tickets (like Avery Voelkel). This lawsuit has not only demonstrated the determination of Swift fans but has also validated concerns about Ticketmaster being a monopoly. Only time will tell what the lawsuit amounts to, but I think we will have something to talk about in AP Gov in the near future.
Implications
With the Eras tour scandal bringing attention to Ticketmaster’s unfair practices, I think the company will definitely get what’s coming to them because karma is a cat. Ticketmaster is being called out nationwide and even some government officials have decided to comment on the matter. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut posted on Twitter that “Taylor Swift’s tour sale is a perfect example of how the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger harms consumers by creating a near-monopoly.” He also stated, “Consumers deserve better than this Anti-Hero behavior.” I give him props for his clever Midnights allusion while remarking on the Treacherous Ticketmaster monopoly situation.
Consumers deserve better than this Anti-Hero behavior
— Richard Blumenthal
In Conclusion
After remaining radio-silent on the issue, Swift finally issued a vague statement saying she “will try to improve the situation going forward” and that she is “extremely protective over her fans.” So it Goes. Despite the Great War for tickets, a close friend of mine made it through the bloodbath and managed to secure us tickets for one of the Nashville shows in May. I am overjoyed to go to the concert and I would definitely say we are the Lucky Ones. Hopefully, we aren’t surrounded by too many bots and fake fans. I feel almost like we should consider selling our tickets to help pay for college, but that is not going to happen.
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There you have it, Raptors! Everything you need to know about the Taylor Swift Eras Tour Ticketmaster Nightmare. Comment down below if you were able to get tickets and what show you are going to!!
