Swift Fans Upset by the Ticketmaster Fiasco

Following the release of her new album Midnights, Taylor Swift announced her “Eras” Tour, set to begin in March of 2023. Because of a great demand for tickets, Swift added 17 dates to her 27-date stadium tour of the US. Fans were overjoyed, as this is the first tour Swift has had since 2018. 

The process to purchase tickets was stressful and lengthy for many fans. First, fans needed to sign up through Ticketmaster to be a verified fan, and they would be notified shortly after if they received a code. Only by receiving a code would they be able to actually purchase tickets. 

Pre-sale occurred on Nov. 15, and general sale was supposed to happen three days later, Nov. 18. However, there were many problems with the Ticketmaster website the day of the pre-sale. Due to an unprecedented amount of people joining the virtual lines without having a code, the site was not able to handle the influx of fans, and crashed multiple times. Then it was announced that the general sale was canceled due to a lack of available tickets. 

Social studies teacher and lifelong Taylor Swift fan Lucy Siepler explains her struggles with the process. “I logged on to Ticketmaster at 9:30 am to get ready and make sure my information was correct. Then at 10, I entered the queue with over 2000 people ahead of me, which is where I sat for over 5 hours,” she said. “The website crashed and came back, but I did not move in line at all. I left work at 3, which is when my mom took over for me in the queue. She was in the line for over two hours when she finally got to purchase tickets. This took over 30 minutes because when you would click on tickets, they would immediately sell out.” 

Despite this struggle, Siepler was able to secure two tickets to Swift’s Minneapolis show on June 24, which she plans to go to with a friend from college. “I am extremely relieved and excited […] It was a very stressful experience trying to get the tickets, so I am so happy the hours of trying paid off,” she said. 

Siepler only spent around $500 on two tickets, including extra fees, but as the demand for tickets went up, so too did the ticket prices, especially on second-hand ticket selling websites like StubHub, where some ticket prices increased to $22,000. 

“I was willing to pay a lot because she hasn’t gone on tour in a while and she is my favorite singer so seeing her in concert has been on my bucket list,” junior Abigail Hajewski said. 

For fans who didn’t receive the code to enter the queue, they were pretty much out of luck. “My husband and I both entered the lottery for tickets. […] Neither of us was selected for the lottery,” paraprofessional Sara Hintz said. “I think the most annoying thing was when people who couldn’t get the presale weren’t able to get general access tickets either.” 

Select people, like math teacher Sarah Holland, were able to get tickets through the Capital One presale. “The process was so much smoother and we were able to get tickets right away,” she said. 

However difficult the process may have been, most people aren’t upset with Taylor herself. “This has not changed my mind about her. I know that she tried to do it the best way she could,” Hintz said. 

Swift called out Ticketmaster on her Instagram story, disappointed with the outcome of the ticket sales. “We asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” she said. 

Fans who got tickets are relieved and excited, while the many fans who weren’t able to get tickets are holding out hope that they will be able to get tickets to future shows.