Here’s the crux of the article in video form:
Taylor Swift announced the Eras Tour, her second all-stadium tour, in November 2022, with Ticketmaster in charge of the pre-sale ticket system.
Following the announcement, many Swifties were excited for their first concert tour in years. But with Ticketmaster at the apex of ticketing, you can never be sure.
Some people registered a “Verified Fan” account to stay ahead of the game. And thanks to the access to pre-sale codes it comes with, they had a real shot at bagging a ticket to the Eras Tour.
Only that they were so wrong.
From anticipation to frustration: The Eras Touch hiccups
Thousands of Swifties wasted valuable hours of their time to try get a a pre-sale code from Ticketmaster. For the few that had some success, the system wasn’t able to send them the code for whatever reason.
And things got murkier when available tickets ended up in the hands of scalpers, even forcing Ticketmaster to cancel its November 18 general sale.
To make matters worse, resale tickets started hitting the market for as much as $45,000. It meant only a few who could afford this outrageous figure would see Taylor Swift.
Those who missed out on the chance to see their idol perform felt betrayed. Some Taylor Swift fans even labeled Ticketmaster a scam after failing to nab a pre-sale ticket to the Eras Tour.
All this drama evidently angered Taylor Swift. And her exasperation was further justified when the matter was taken up by the U.S. Department of Justice.
With frustrations boiling, agitated Swifties were actively looking for somewhere to ease their anger. And they found one in Ticketmaster’s queue system, which they fully blamed.
But like a volcano, so much lava was still left within them. And when Taylor Swift missed out on the SOTY Grammy award in early 2023, The Recording Academy became their newest punching bag.
Taylor Swift Eras Tour pre-sale ticket issues persist to date
Ticketmaster tried to blame Taylor Swift and her fans for the woes the platform was going through. Speaking to CNBC, Greg Maffei, Live Nation Entertainment chair, said that:
The reality is, Taylor Swift hasn’t been on the road for three or four years and that’s caused a huge issue.
Greg was evidently trying to pit Taylor Swift and her fans by blaming the former for not having been on the road for years. But was it her fault that she couldn’t perform any shows during the COVID period?
Should we blame fans for having so much deep connections with Taylor Swift through her music and other charitable events in her bucket list?
With such a statement, it suggested that Ticketmaster probably doesn’t really care much about artists and their fans. And it shows in the fact that these same issues still persist to date.
Tour dates across Europe and other regions have been confirmed. Granted, more Taylor Swift fans are now looking for pre-sale ticket codes for when the Eras Tour comes near their home.
But even after a grace period spanning months, Ticketmaster hasn’t addressed issues that have been plaguing its ticketing system for so long.
Reports of the email containing the pre-sale ticket code failing to arrive have been rampant in recent times. This is especially true since the global tour begins on August 23.
And for those who got lucky, the email arrived with the wrong code that isn’t of any use to them. This is even more frustrating considering those affected signed up for a verified fan account to stay ahead of the queue.
Despite waitlisting many fans to receive the pre-sale ticket, they still missed out since the event sold out.
Understandably, this ordeal has left many Swifties disappointed. It has also marked a sad ending to what they anticipated would be a great time with the person they’ve idolized for years.
It is evident that as long as Ticketmaster continues to handle ticketing, there will be inevitable losers.
But I hope Live Nation learns from this chaotic handling of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. It should go a long way toward preventing a repeat of the same in future.
Do let us know your thoughts in the comments and poll below.
Loading ...Featured image: Taylor Swift
PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.
Hillary Keverenge
2132 Posts
Tech has been my playground for over a decade. While the Android journey began early, it truly took flight with the revolutionary Lollipop update. Since then, it's been a parade of Android devices (with a sprinkle of iOS), culminating in a mostly happy marriage with Google's smart home ecosystem. Expect insightful articles and explorations of the ever-evolving world of Android and Google products coupled with occasional rants on the Nest smart home ecosystem.
Next article View Article
