Ticket sales for Taylor Swift tour reignite fan frustration over Ticketmaster - NBC News

Ticketmaster’s homepage was temporarily knocked offline Tuesday arsenic fans flooded the tract to get tickets for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour.

“HOW IS TICKETMASTER ALREADY DOWN ?????? #TaylorSwiftTix” 1 instrumentality wrote, echoing the vexation of thousands of “Swifties,” the nickname for diehard Swift fans, vying to spot their favourite creator successful her archetypal performance circuit since earlier the pandemic.

Swift's 2023 U.S. tour, which kicks disconnected successful March successful Arizona and ends successful August successful Los Angeles, has 52 performance dates (Swift recently added 17 dates to the archetypal circuit announcement).

Such chaos surrounding summons income — portion frustrating to fans —  is besides not uncommon. In caller years, buying performance tickets has go progressively competitory and expensive, arsenic Ticketmaster and its genitor company, Live Nation, person taken a increasing stock of the euphony circuit business. 

Backlash against the ticketing companies has besides grown: When a large creator announces a tour, fans inevitably kick connected societal media astir Ticketmaster’s precocious fees and unchecked scalping. Demand for large shows similar Swift’s is present truthful large that fans tin sometimes extremity up paying apical dollar for tickets that don’t adjacent exist. 

“When things similar that happen, it’s a small frustrating due to the fact that you’re opening the doorway for a batch of radical that are naive, oregon impulsive, oregon conscionable similar myself with a engaged beingness that conscionable privation these tickets,” said Yhara Rivera, who was truthful thrilled astir the Swift circuit that she bought $1,500 worthy of tickets utilizing a antithetic platform, Ticketfaster, not realizing authoritative tickets weren’t adjacent connected merchantability yet. 

“It conscionable sucks due to the fact that … I honestly deliberation everyone’s ace excited [about Swift’s tour].”

By Tuesday morning, Ticketmaster was trending connected Twitter, with fans flooding the tract with complaints. “Swifties” was besides trending connected Twitter.

Some fans reported that the queue had been “temporarily paused,” causing uncertainty arsenic to if and erstwhile they’d ever get tickets

Ticketmaster and Live Nation did not respond to requests for comment. In a connection to CNN, a spokesperson for Ticketmaster said the “site is not down” and that “people are actively purchasing tickets."

In a tweet, Ticketmaster's Fan Support relationship said, "We are alert fans whitethorn beryllium experiencing intermittent issues with the tract and are urgently moving to resolve."

Hours later, Ticketmaster gave fans different update connected Twitter, penning that "there has been historically unprecedented request with millions showing up to bargain tickets for the TaylorSwiftTix Presale."

The ticketing level requested that those waiting successful a queue "hang tight."

"Queues are moving and we are moving to get fans done arsenic rapidly arsenic possible," Ticketmaster wrote, adding that the clip slot for West Coasters who privation to get tickets has moved from 10 a.m. PT to 3 p.m. PT.

As of 1:05 p.m. ET, “hundreds of thousands of tickets person been sold," Ticketmaster said.

A spokesperson for Swift did not respond to a petition for comment.

‘Verified fan’ acquisition tin further frustrate fans

In caller years, Ticketmaster has offered North American fans the enactment of registering arsenic “Verified Fans” to participate a lottery to bargain tickets for definite shows. The feature, meant to “ensure that much tickets spell to the fans who volition really be the event,” dissuades scalpers by inviting definite registered Verified Fans to acquisition tickets the nighttime earlier they spell connected sale, according to Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster provides the selected fans with a codification and a nexus to the acquisition site. When tickets spell connected sale, the nexus leads fans to a “Smart Queue” that “keeps summons bots out.” Once they scope the extremity of the queue, they participate the entree codification to browse and bargain tickets.

Ahead of Swift’s tickets being released, Ticketmaster reminded fans that “no Verified Fan tickets person been sold.” 

“Many unofficial sellers volition database tickets connected secondary marketplaces adjacent earlier they spell connected sale,” the institution wrote successful an email to fans, adding besides that “codes cannot beryllium purchased. You should not spot anyone trying to merchantability you a code.”

But adjacent with warnings and guidance from Ticketmaster successful place, the process has proved to beryllium hard for galore to navigate.

Last year, fans of Olivia Rodrigo ended up disappointed aft they said Ticketmaster’s method difficulties kept them from buying the coveted tickets erstwhile they went connected sale. 

For Harry Styles’ “Love On Tour” this year, influencer Tara Lynn said connected TikTok that she spent $10,000 for tickets to 1 of his Los Angeles shows. She claimed that she had primitively bought 2 tickets for $890 each, but they were ne'er emailed to her, truthful she decided to splurge connected level seats.

Rivera’s mistake is besides not uncommon — for years, fans person warned different fans astir Ticketfaster connected Reddit. A spokesperson for Ticketfaster did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. Rivera said a Ticketfaster typical reached retired to her and explained that the tract does merchantability morganatic tickets, and that she’ll person them aft they spell connected merchantability connected Ticketmaster. She said she did not get a refund, truthful she’s disputing the complaint connected her recognition card.  

In caller weeks, immoderate “Swifties” person posted videos jokingly encouraging different fans to bargain their tickets connected Ticketfaster successful hopes of making the existent ticket-buying process little competitive. 

Another instrumentality took vantage of Twitter Blue’s short-lived for-purchase verification strategy by posing arsenic Swift and falsely claiming that the presale day had been moved truthful that others would miss the existent merchantability date. The relationship has since been suspended.

On Monday, up of Swift’s authoritative summons merchandise date, “I GOT THE EMAIL” trended connected Twitter. Users shared screenshots of emails from Ticketmaster that said “Your invitation to TaylorSwiftTix Presale powered by Verified Fan.” “You’ve been selected!” the email reads. 

The email didn't warrant the idiosyncratic a ticket, but alternatively a spot successful the virtual enactment to get tickets via a codification sent to them directly. Those who weren’t selected rapidly lamented however they did not get a code.  

Officials pledge to assistance combat ‘junk fees’

Ticketmaster’s leverage means it is capable to complaint precocious fees — successful immoderate instances arsenic overmuch arsenic 78% of the look worth of the summons itself, according to a survey from the advocacy radical More Perfect Union. 

The company’s dominance successful handling large tours reflects a deficiency of contention for alternate ticketing platforms that tin grip the crush of request for tours similar Swift’s. 

“At the bosom of truthful overmuch of the occupation successful the ticketing abstraction is the de facto monopoly Ticketmaster has,” said New York authorities Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat who this year led transition of a instrumentality to bring greater transparency to the ticket-buying process successful the state. 

“Everyone but national regulators presumption Ticketmaster arsenic a monopoly, and from that travel each the atrocious things that hap erstwhile there’s a monopoly successful an industry,” Skoufis said.

Ticketmaster has besides faced complaints astir its “Official Platinum” feature, which offers adaptable prices based connected demand. For example, tickets to Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming circuit were listed arsenic precocious arsenic $5,000 each connected the archetypal day, according to CNBC.

That quality prompted Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., the president of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee connected Oversight, to write a missive to Live Nation calling for “much needed transparency to the sale, pricing, and organisation of live-event tickets.”

“The verified pre-sale of tickets each greeting has caused precocious levels of accent and vexation for our constituents arsenic they spot tickets vanish from the superior marketplace website arsenic if purchased, lone to reappear astatine higher prices,” Pascrell wrote successful August.

Ticketmaster issued a connection saying that it “does not find pricing … promoters and creator representatives acceptable pricing strategy and terms scope parameters connected each tickets, including fixed and market-based terms points."The interest concern has gotten the attraction of the White House. 

Last month, President Joe Biden announced helium would statesman cracking down connected what helium called junk fees that are often initially hidden from consumers erstwhile they hunt for a ticket, oregon are added connected aft buying.

“Each year, these ‘junk fees’ ... that companies complaint outgo Americans tens of billions of dollars, weighing down household budgets and making it harder for radical to wage their bills,” Biden said.  “So my medication is taking enactment to destruct these fees.” 

The Federal Trade Commission has begun drafting a regularisation to alteration however companies complaint for these fees, Biden said. 

Live Nation appeared to invited the news.

“We applaud President Biden’s advocacy for interest transparency successful each industry, including unrecorded lawsuit ticketing,” it said successful a statement.    

As for the Swift summons income chaos connected Tuesday, Ticketmaster urged fans connected Twitter to debar going done its homepage to get tickets.

"If you received a codification to the TaylorSwiftTix Presale, delight login and entree the queue done the nexus you received via substance alternatively than entering done the Ticketmaster homepage," Ticketmaster tweeted. "This volition guarantee an optimal buying experience."

One instrumentality replied, "Has anyone really been capable to get tickets??"