Topline
Almost 40,000 fans with pre-sale access to Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour dates in the United Kingdom were met with a malfunctioning waiting room, inflated resale prices and Ticketmaster “breaking down” as they tried to purchase tickets to one of 13 shows to be held next year–mirroring similar problems in the U.S. that have prompted discussions of changing regulations around ticket sales.
Key Facts
Ticketmaster, which also oversaw a disastrous sale of tickets for U.S. tour stops, staggered the days and times tickets to U.K. shows would go on sale in attempts to avoid the website crashes that plagued American buyers earlier this year, but would-be concert attendees who had access to the first pre-sale day Monday complained the website was still malfunctioning and scalpers were reselling tickets for five times their original prices within 15 minutes of the release.
Some users reported website crashes and problems joining the virtual waiting room, while others complained about expensive tickets with obstructed views and disabled fans said the virtual line for special access at London’s Wembley Stadium was never opened at all.
Resale tickets for the U.K. shows that went on sale Monday–two shows in London and three in Edinburgh–were listed on StubHub and Viagogo for as high as PS3,352 ($4,309), according to the Guardian, compared to original prices as low as PS110.
Fans who pre-ordered Swift’s latest album, Midnights, from her official website were given pre-sale access to buy tickets, and no more than two shows will open for presale at a time, with three staggered time slots each day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
A general sale for tickets, which was canceled in the U.S. after Ticketmaster drastically oversold early access seats, is scheduled to start Monday and will also be staggered across three days and three time slots per day.
Representatives for Ticketmaster in Europe, the Middle East and Africa did not immediately respond to request for comment Monday.
Taylor Swift performs onstage for night one of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour at GEHA Field at … [+] Arrowhead Stadium on July 07, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo by John Shearer/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Key Background
Sales for the Eras Tour have broken records and websites, leading to a formal congressional investigation into Ticketmaster after fans were surprised at checkout with hundreds of dollars in fees, the cancellation of the public sale and tickets that were listed for resale as high as $92,000. The company blamed high demand and Joe Berchtold, president of Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, blamed the crash of the site on a cyberattack caused by scalpers. Swift, however, said she asked Ticketmaster several times “if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could.” Since the Eras tour debacle, public officials have questioned the Ticketmaster and LiveNation merger and questioned whether the two companies should be broken up. The United States and U.K. fans aren’t the only victims of sky-high prices and ticket-buying problems. Singaporean fans reported VIP tickets being resold for as much as $11,895, the Guardian reported, and the Brazilian Report wrote that at least 10 scalpers were pulled out of lines and arrested by consumer protection agents when tickets went on sale for shows in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Lawmakers in Brazil have since proposed a law that would crack down on resellers by upping fines and threatening potential jail time.
Tangent
Spotify has reported that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), a remastering of her 2010 album that was released Thursday of last week, has broken two streaming records. The new Speak Now became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2023 so far and is now the most-streamed country album in a single day in Spotify history.
Big Number
575,000. That’s how many copies Midnights sold on vinyl alone within its first week. Music industry publication HitsDailyDouble reported Swift is expected to break her own record with 500,000 to 600,000 vinyl sales of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Further Reading
Taylor Swift Adds 14 Shows To The Eras Tour In Europe, UK (Forbes)
Taylor Swift Could Beat Her Own Vinyl Sales Record With ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’ (Forbes)
New ‘Taylor Swift Law’ Could Send Scalpers To Jail For 4 Years In Brazil (Forbes)
America’s Richest Self-Made Women (Forbes)
The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (Forbes)
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