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Taylor Swift fans are furious with their idol

Taylor Swift fans are furious with their idol

Do we still remember that photoshoot of Kim Kardashian where she sprayed champagne on her butt? It was written that that photo ‘had broken the internet’ and at the time I already had my doubts about that, if it were true, but now the internet has completely exploded. And that is due to Kim's arch-rival Taylor Swift.

Let me start by saying that I am really a big fan of Taylor Swift. For years. I had tickets to see her in Dublin with my ex, and it genuinely hurt me just as much that it didn't happen and that my ex was leading a completely double life with another woman. Now, that second part did have something to do with the first not happening, but still, the love for Taylor runs deep.

So you can imagine that I was extremely happy when she announced she was going on tour again. I was even happier when she announced it would be an ‘Eras Tour’, which means that not only her new songs but also the old hits would be heard. Maybe even a live version of All Too Well, ten minutes long? That would be something.

I was a bit disappointed when the dates and locations were announced: only in the United States. But hey, you're a fan or you're not, so I was quite willing to fly there and just make a whole trip out of it. But before the regular ticket sales started, Verified Fans got the chance to score the very first tickets.

How do you become a Verified Fan? By buying her products and registering. Fine, I ordered her new lp: registration completed. But then the drama started: those Verified Fans had to register again for the presale. The site where that had to happen (from Ticketmaster) completely crashed and fans complained that they stood for hours in the virtual waiting line only to be kicked out again. I managed to get through, but I couldn't register; you needed an American phone number, otherwise it wouldn't work. Infuriating.

Ticketmaster announced today that over 3.5 million fans had registered and that 1.5 million fans had gained access to the presale. That presale was last week and it literally broke the internet. The Ticketmaster site was completely down (they said it was four times the maximum number of visitors on the site) and thousands, probably even millions of fans were left empty-handed.

That's of course a bummer, but that's not even all. Taylor Swift implemented dynamic pricing for her tickets. This means that prices vary: the more demand there is, the more expensive the tickets. And so it happened that the ‘nosebleeds’ (the English term for the very worst seats at a show, often way up high with hardly any view of the stage) still cost $599. Bizarre.

Even more bizarre is that tickets are being offered on resale sites (which often also belong to the company that Ticketmaster is part of; corrupt gang then) for amounts like 30K. For one ticket. Have we all gone completely crazy?! The annoying thing is that Taylor Swift is fully aware of this, because artists choose this method of ticket sales themselves. Ed Sheeran, for example, canceled all these tickets on resale sites during his tour to give real fans a chance to be there.

But it's not bad enough yet: the regular sale hadn't even started. And it's not going to start either. Today, Ticketmaster announced that the regular sale has been canceled because they sold too many tickets during that presale. In other words: fans are just out of luck, unless they can and want to pay 30K for a concert.

And now fans are angry. I am also angry. I find it quite strange to make fans pay (through merchandise) to give priority in ticket sales, but to also implement dynamic pricing just smells like a case of ‘I want to make as much money as possible’. The most disappointing thing of all? Taylor Swift hasn't said a word about this ticket sale debacle. She only posted a Story thanking the fans that her song All Too Well has been nominated for a Grammy. That ‘it wouldn't be possible without the fans’. You're welcome, right, Taylor.

@fortune Getting Taylor Swift tickets was a Ticketdisaster. #taylorswift #taylorswifttickets #theerastour #ticketmasterfail ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim