On the heels of a messy ticket rollout for Taylor Swift’s first tour in years, fans are angry.
They’re also energized against Ticketmaster. While researchers agree that there’s no way to tell how long the energy could last, the outrage shows a way for young people to become more politically engaged through fan culture.
This isn’t even the first time a fandom or an artist has targeted Ticketmaster. And Swifties say it’s not just about getting a ticket. The ticket debacle has spurred broader conversations about economic inequality and political action.
Ticketmaster said last week it was canceling a planned general public sale of Swift concert tickets because it didn’t haven’t enough inventory. The ticket seller couldn’t handle the millions of fans trying to buy tickets for Swift’s stadium tour as the site crashed and leaving fans empty-handed.
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Ticketmaster said two million tickets for Swift’s 2023 tour were sold during presales last Tuesday, the most tickets ever sold on the platform in a single day. But millions were also left empty-handed as Ticketmaster said there was “insufficient remaining ticket inventory.”
Swift posted a story Friday on Instagram expressing her anger and frustration over the hours spent by fans trying to buy tickets for her tour next year.
Swift says she and her team asked the platform multiple times if it would be able to handle massive demand. In her words, she says: “We were assured they could.”
Of fans who lost out after hours waiting in a digital queue, Swift said she hopes to provide more chances to get together.
Some state attorneys general aren’t shaking off the debacle. The top legal chiefs in Nevada, Tennessee and Pennsylvania are looking into it.
Multiple lawmakers have accused Ticketmaster of abusing its power as the dominant seller of concert tickets.
Even the White House weighed in, saying the Biden administration believes a “lack of competition leads to higher prices, and worse service.”
