In November 2021, Ticketmaster came under scrutiny over their handling of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras tour. There was huge demand for tickets, which led to website crashes, long wait times, and many fans unable to purchase tickets. This caused public backlash against Ticketmaster, with many accusing them of unfair practices. Taylor Swift herself condemned the situation. Ticketmaster subsequently issued statements explaining their handling of the situation and defending their practices. Their responses provide insight into how a major entertainment company handles a public relations crisis.
What problems occurred during the Taylor Swift ticket sale?
The Taylor Swift Eras tour ticket sale on November 15, 2022 was plagued by a number of issues:
– Extremely high demand – Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for a chance to buy tickets, the largest registration in Ticketmaster’s history. This overwhelmed their systems.
– Website crashes – With millions of fans logging in at once, Ticketmaster’s website and app repeatedly crashed or encountered long loading times.
– Long wait times – The massive demand combined with system failures meant fans had to wait for hours in virtual queues without knowing if tickets would still be available.
– Immediate sell-outs – Tickets for many venues sold out within minutes, before the majority of fans could even access the website.
– Exorbitant resale prices – Ticket resale sites like StubHub had tickets on sale for thousands of dollars each within minutes of the on-sale time, indicating scalpers were able to buy up tickets quickly.
Key Statistics
| More than 3.5 million | People pre-registered for the ticket sale |
| 1.5 million | Verified fans were given codes to purchase tickets |
| 14 million | Attempts were made to enter queues for ticket sales |
This combination of factors left many genuine Swift fans frustrated and unable to purchase tickets at face value prices.
What was the public response?
The backlash against Ticketmaster was swift and severe across social media, traditional media, and directly from Swift herself:
– Social media complaints – Under hashtags like #TicketmasterSwiftTix, fans complained of unfair practices and called for investigations. Memes criticized Ticketmaster.
– Media coverage – Major outlets covered the ticketing issues extensively and highlighted fans’ complaints of a “rigged” system.
– Government response – Senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal expressed concerns and called for investigations into Ticketmaster’s practices.
– Swift’s reaction – Taylor Swift posted a story saying it was “excruciating” for her to watch mistakes happen without recourse and that she was “trying to figure out how this situation can be improved.”
– Lawsuits – Some angry fans filed lawsuits against Ticketmaster alleging antitrust violations.
Key Quotes
| “Ticketmaster’s power in the primary ticket market insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services.” | – Senator Amy Klobuchar |
| “Ticketmaster needs to explain to the public how they handle their security measures and what went wrong.” | – Richard Blumenthal, Senator |
| “It goes without saying that Ticketmaster should not be allowed to monopolize the primary ticket sales market and thus continue to squeeze fans.” | – Fan lawsuit |
The public sentiment was overwhelmingly opposed to Ticketmaster’s handling of the situation.
How did Ticketmaster respond?
Facing intense public scrutiny, Ticketmaster issued several statements and gave media interviews to defend and explain their actions.
Initial statement
Ticketmaster’s first statement was posted on Twitter on November 15th, the day issues occurred. They acknowledged “some issues with today’s TaylorSwiftTix presale” and said “there has been historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up” to purchase tickets. They described it as a “technical breakdown” but said they remained committed to ensuring people get tickets.
Statement from Ticketmaster President/CEO
On November 17th, Ticketmaster President and CEO Amy Howe issued a lengthy statement saying:
– Verified fan registration was required due to extremely high demand to try to eliminate scalpers/bots.
– Over 3.5 million people pre-registered as Verified Fans, the largest registration in history.
– Around 1.5 million Verified Fans were given codes to purchase tickets, still a massive number.
– Hundreds of thousands of bot attacks further overwhelmed the system.
She stated the company “should have staggered the sales more” and suggested Taylor Swift add more shows. She said Ticketmaster is working to improve access.
Media Interviews
Ticketmaster executives also gave interviews to media outlets explaining their perspective:
– COO Greg Maffei told CNBC the enormous demand and attacks overwhelmed systems, but Ticketmaster did not intentionally restrict supply.
– Head of Music Bob Roux told Billboard staggered sales “could have…smoothed the load on our technology.”
– Maffei told the LA Times haters were “extraordinarily unfair” to Ticketmaster and Swift has lots of other chances to add shows.
Overall, Ticketmaster consistently blamed record demand and bot attacks for the issues while contending they did not actively restrict supply. They claimed it as an internal failure, not an intentional business practice.
Does Ticketmaster have a monopoly on ticket sales?
Much of the public blowback centered around accusations that Ticketmaster holds an unfair monopoly or duopoly with LiveNation over primary ticket sales. Some key factors related to this issue:
– In 2010, Ticketmaster and LiveNation merged. The Justice Department approved it on conditions that they wouldn’t retaliate against venues using competitors.
– Ticketmaster has exclusive ticketing deals with many major venues and artists. They sell primary tickets for the vast majority of major live entertainment events.
– Competitors like AXS, SeatGeek, and Eventbrite have a relatively small market share by comparison.
– Ticketmaster contends their market share is earned by providing superior technology and services that venues choose to utilize.
– Critics argue Ticketmaster uses anti-competitive practices, threats, and coercion to maintain dominance. Their huge size and exclusive deals make it extremely difficult for rivals to effectively compete.
– Calls are growing for DOJ and FTC antitrust investigations into whether Ticketmaster engages in monopolistic practices.
It’s a complex issue still under debate, but Ticketmaster clearly dominates primary event ticketing currently.
Ticketmaster’s Market Share
| Company | Estimated Market Share |
|---|---|
| Ticketmaster | 70% or more |
| LiveNation | 10-15% |
| AXS | 10-15% |
| Other companies | 5-10% |
How has this impacted Taylor Swift’s reputation?
The ticketing fiasco does not seem to have severely damaged Swift’s overall reputation, based on several factors:
– Swift remains hugely popular, with a devoted fanbase unlikely to blame her for Ticketmaster’s issues.
– Her statement criticizing the situation showed she cared about fans’ difficulties.
– Media coverage has focused criticism primarily on Ticketmaster, not Swift herself.
– She is taking steps like adding dates to provide more opportunities for fans.
– Her tour is still projected to break records despite the controversy.
– She has faced no major backlash or boycott threats. The outrage is centered on Ticketmaster.
However, some effects on Swift’s reputation could include:
– Perception she is increasingly removed from average fans and overly corporate.
– Resentment if her collaboration with Ticketmaster helped lead to the monopoly-like conditions.
– Her next tour may face higher scrutiny over ticketing processes.
Overall though, Swift remains hugely popular with supporters likely to give her the benefit of the doubt regarding the ticketing issues. The blame has fallen predominantly on Ticketmaster thus far.
Conclusion
In summary, the Taylor Swift ticket sale controversy revealed deep public antipathy and distrust toward Ticketmaster’s dominant position in event ticketing. Though Ticketmaster blamed record demand and technical failures, the situation renewed long-standing accusations of monopolistic practices. It demonstrated glaring flaws in the ticket sales system which Ticketmaster controls.
The company responded with contrition over the technical issues but defensiveness regarding monopoly accusations. They face ongoing anger and scrutiny which may pressure changes to their ticketing processes. For Swift, the debacle was a publicity setback but is unlikely to severely or permanently tarnish her reputation with fans. However, it may increase attention on her ticketing practices for future tours. Both Ticketmaster and Swift seem motivated to improve ticketing access to smooth over fan resentment. But systemic change faces challenges unless meaningful competitors emerge or regulators intervene in the event ticketing ecosystem.