Taylor Swift Ticket Debacle: What Happened With Ticketmaster And Taylor Swift? How Much Did Taylor Swift Tickets Cost?
by Samina | Updated Jan 25, 2023
Who Is Taylor Swift?
Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Scott Kingsley Swift, a financial advisor, and Andrea Swift, a homemaker. She also has a younger brother named Austin. Her early education was at El Vernia Montessori School, but her family later relocated to Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
Taylor continued her education at Wyomissing Area High School after moving cities. She had always been interested in music and could write very well. She also won the National Poetry Contest at the age of nine, which is a significant achievement for a child.
Taylor Swift Ticket Debacle
Music fans' long-held dissatisfaction when Ticketmaster reached a climax in November, when they were unable to secure tickets for Taylor Swift's upcoming Eras tour during the presale, prompting Ticketmaster to cancel the general sale.
Democrats and Republicans appeared to agree during the hearing that Ticketmaster's stranglehold on the live entertainment industry was harming US consumers. Their concern is that because Ticketmaster is so large, artists and venues have no choice but to use its technology, giving it no incentive to keep prices low and ensure fans have a good experience. They questioned Ticketmaster President Joe Berchtold, along with several other industry players, to explain his company's failure to meet fan demand during the tour and combat its bot problem despite its industry dominance.
What Happened With Ticketmaster And Taylor Swift?
Swift fans were outraged when Ticketmaster cancelled the general public ticket sale for Swift's highly anticipated new tour in November. Hundreds of thousands of fans were snubbed during the verified fan presale due to several days of turbulence.
Joe Berchtold, the president and CFO of Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation Entertainment, testified that the large-scale problems were caused by "industrial-scale ticket scalping" and an unprecedented number of bots.
"In hindsight, there are several things we could have done better," Berchtold said. "And let me be clear, Ticketmaster accepts its responsibility as being the first line in defense against bots in our industry."
However Taylor Swift was not present at this hearing.
How Much Did Taylor Swift Tickets Cost?
Other fans reported waiting in online lines for up to eight hours, and many were unable to purchase tickets, which cost between $49 and $449 each. While presale tickets were initially only available to Swift fans who had been selected as "verified fans" - a system designed to discourage bots and scalpers - some tickets were already being listed on resale sites like StubHub for as much as US$22,700 (£19,100, A$33,500) each.
To relieve pressure on Ticketmaster, ticket sales for west coast shows were delayed by three hours. Another presale has been moved from Tuesday to Wednesday for Capital One credit cardholders.
Swifties, Swift's fans, claimed they were repeatedly dropped from queues and vented their rage at Ticketmaster. Some people said they took a day off work because they thought the process should have gone more smoothly.
Ticketmaster President Apologizes To Swifties
Berchtold told the committee that the Ticketmaster meltdown during the Eras tour verified fan presale was caused by a bot attack.
Codes were sent to people who identified as loyal Swift fans ahead of the presale to allow them access to the presale. Berchtold said that on the day the tickets went on sale, roughly three times the number of bots that Ticketmaster normally sees attempted to access the site, slowing everything down and preventing many fans from completing their ticket purchases.
He added that the verified fan system worked because none of the bots were able to buy tickets, but their coordinated attack ruined the experience for everyone.
Swift described the experience of watching many of her fans try and fail to get tickets as "excruciating" in a statement at the time. She claimed that Ticketmaster had assured her that it would be able to meet the demand.
Ticketmaster apologized to her and her fans, which Berchtold repeated during the hearing on Tuesday.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour 2023 Schedule
DATE CITY VENUE March 18 Glendale, AZ State Farm Stadium March 25 Las Vegas, NV Allegiant Stadium April 1 Arlington, TX AT&T Stadium April 2 Arlington, TX AT&T Stadium April 15 Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium April 22 Houston, TX NRG Stadium April 28 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium April 29 Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium May 6 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium May 12 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field May 13 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field May 19 Foxborough, MA Gillette Stadium May 20 Foxborough, MA Gillette Stadium May 26 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium May 27 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium June 2 Chicago, IL Soldier Field June 3 Chicago, IL Soldier Field June 10 Detroit, MI Ford Field June 17 Pittsburgh, PA Acrisure Stadium June 24 Minneapolis, MN U.S. Bank Stadium July 1 Cincinnati, OH Paycor Stadium July 8 Kansas City, MO GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium July 15 Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High July 22 Seattle, WA Lumen Field July 29 Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium August 4 Los Angeles, CA SoFi Stadium August 5 Los Angeles, CA SoFi Stadium
Taylor Swift Ticket Debacle- FAQs
During the November presale for Swift's upcoming "Eras" tour, Ticketmaster was forced to halt purchases for her shows, citing "extraordinarily high demands" and "insufficient remaining ticket inventory," drawing outcry from Swifties -- and the artist herself.
Pearl Jam, one of the biggest names in rock music, began feuding with Ticketmaster in 1992. The band planned a free Labor Day concert for 30,000 hometown fans in Seattle. Ticketmaster sought a $1 service fee for every ticket, according to an investigative report in the Los Angeles Times.
The "I Remember It All Too Well" VIP packages include a reserved seated ticket; a special edition of four Taylor Swift prints that are designed exclusively for VIPs, including a hand-numbered print exclusive to the show and city; a commemorative "Eras Tour" VIP tote bag; a collectible Taylor Swift pin, sticker and more.
Swift is re-recording her earlier albums because this will allow her to own their masters — that is, the songs' original recordings. Owning her masters means Swift can control the way those particular versions of the songs are used, like granting permission for the music to appear in advertising.
In 2014, she removed her catalog due to her belief music should not be free. She wrote an op-ed about it for The Wall Street Journal. “It's my opinion that music should not be free and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will some day decide what an album's price point is,” she wrote.