Ticketmaster has ‘bad blood’ with fans after failed presale

Charlotte Chapman

Entertainment Writer

Millions of Taylor Swift fans flocked to Ticketmaster in hopes of purchasing tickets to her upcoming “Eras” tour this past November, but most were left emptyhanded and frustrated.

Promoted as a journey through Swift’s entire career, the show will be her first tour since the 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. At the announcement of Swift’s return to the stage, many fans began to anticipate the intense competition that ticket sales would bring.

The process of securing tickets included a “Verified Fan Presale.” This is a fairly common system that gives fans the chance to be selected for an opportunity to purchase tickets before they are released to the general public.

This presale, while claiming to be for “verified fans,” was actually open to anyone who simply has a Ticketmaster account. Anyone could sign up for a presale code, whether they were a fan

Due to the staggering number of users who signed up for presale,

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many fans did not receive a code, with 2 million fans being left on a waitlist. To ensure these codes went to serious fans of Swift, the system should have included a screening process.

During Swift’s “Reputation” tour, fans were able to stream music, watch music videos, or buy albums to boost their spot in the presale queue. If fans were willing to spend more time and effort supporting Swift’s music, they would increase their chances of securing tickets.

A similar process could have been used again to ensure the presale codes went to real fans of Swift, as opposed to scalpers and bots. This would not only have benefitted Swift’s most dedicated supporters but also reduced the number of users on Ticketmaster’s website at the time of ticket sales.

The overwhelming number of users on Ticketmaster is what ultimately ruined the ticket-purchasing process. While in the presale queue, many fans were left in a line that wouldn’t move. The few supporters who were able to get to the ticket page couldn’t check out, often experiencing glitches before being kicked off the site.

The sheer number of users in the queue overburdened Ticketmaster. This issue could have been avoided with more preparation and organiza- tion on Ticketmaster’s part.

Tickets for every date of the tour went on sale at the same time; however, if shows in different regions went on sale at different times, the number of users on the Ticketmaster site could have been greatly reduced.

Additionally, the queue to access the presale did not require the verification code to be entered upon arrival at the website. Instead, users could wait until reaching the front of the line to enter their presale code.

Many customers who didn’t receive presale codes still entered the queue, even though they would not be able to purchase tickets. This created an unexpected influx of users on their site, thus overwhelming their system.

To prevent this, Ticketmaster should have required users to enter a presale verification code prior to entering the queue.

At the end of this chaotic presale, many fans were left discouraged, but some clung to the hope that the general public sale would provide them another opportunity to secure tickets.

This hope was quickly shattered when the general public sale was canceled due to a shortage of tickets left over after the presale.

While disappointing, this inefficient sale has led to one positive outcome: a cry for change in the ticket-purchasing process.

A judicial committee hearing regarding Ticketmaster is currently being held. This will hopefully shed light on the misconduct of Ticketmaster and break-up their monopoly within the ticket-selling industry.

At the very least, this scandal should provide motivation for artists to find alternative ticket sellers and for Ticketmaster to address and improve their flawed system.