Taylor Swift recently announced a new concert tour called The Eras Tour, which is scheduled to begin in 2023. There has been a lot of excitement and demand for Taylor Swift tickets, with fans eager to see the pop superstar live in concert. However, actually getting tickets has proven extremely difficult, leaving many fans disappointed. This has led to questions about how the ticket buying process works and why it seems so challenging to get Taylor Swift tickets.
Background on Taylor Swift Tickets
The Eras Tour will be Taylor Swift’s first tour since 2018. She is known for hugely popular stadium tours that sell out in minutes. Her fan base, known as “Swifties,” is extremely dedicated and willing to do whatever it takes to get tickets. This massive demand means tickets are scarce and difficult to obtain.
For The Eras Tour, there were presales for certain groups like holders of her fan club membership. But the vast majority of tickets went on sale to the general public on November 18, 2022. Over 2 million tickets were sold on that first day of public sales.
Sites like Ticketmaster struggled to keep up with the intense demand. Long virtual queues formed just to access the ticket buying page. Most dates sold out within minutes, leaving many Swifties shut out. This has understandably caused frustration about the ticket buying experience.
Challenges of Buying Taylor Swift Tickets
Here are some of the key challenges fans have faced trying to purchase Taylor Swift tickets:
– Extremely high demand – There are millions of fans vying for a limited number of tickets. Taylor could easily sell out numerous shows in every city on the tour.
– Bots and resellers – Many tickets are scooped up immediately by bots and resellers seeking to profit off of Swifties. This limits real fans’ access.
– Difficulties with ticket sites – Sites like Ticketmaster often crash or have long wait times due to high traffic during sales. This makes the ticket buying process really difficult.
– High prices – Given the huge demand, prices for Taylor Swift tickets are astronomical on primary and secondary markets. Many true fans get priced out.
– Presales issues – Even getting access to presales through fan club memberships or other means has proven difficult, with those sites and codes often not working properly.
Why Getting Tickets is So Difficult
The huge gap between the massive demand for Taylor Swift tickets and the very limited supply is the core reason why getting tickets is so hard for fans. Experts estimate there is 10 to 20 times more demand than there are tickets available.
When millions of fans all try to buy tickets the minute they go on sale, it inevitably leaves many coming away empty-handed. The situation is ripe for scalpers and bots to take advantage.
Swift and her team likely want to keep prices reasonable for fans. But with costs of touring and production so high post-pandemic, it’s hard to balance that with the economics. There simply are not enough reasonably priced tickets to satisfy the enormous demand.
Ticketmaster also maintains that it wants real fans to get access. But the company has received criticism for not doing enough to limit scalpers and bots during high-demand sales. Some also accuse them of benefitting from the higher secondary market prices.
Efforts to Get Taylor Swift Tickets
Here are some of the efforts Swifties have undertaken trying to get tickets to The Eras Tour:
– Joining Taylor’s fan club to get presale code access. Annual memberships cost $49.
– Registering for Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program for a chance at special presale access.
– Paying for membership to other presale platforms like American Express.
– Waiting in online queues for hours as soon as tickets went on sale.
– Constantly checking sites as tickets are slowly released over time leading up to shows.
– Entering radio contests and giveaways to try to win tickets.
– Checking resale sites like StubHub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, though prices are extremely inflated.
– Attempting to get tickets directly as they are used or released closer to shows.
– Purchasing VIP/premium ticket packages that bundle extra perks with tickets.
– Traveling to other cities and countries where there may be less demand and easier access to tickets.
Reactions to Taylor Swift Ticket Difficulties
Needless to say, many Swifties have been extremely upset about the difficulties getting Taylor Swift tickets for The Eras Tour. Here are some common fan reactions:
– Anger at scalpers and bots using unfair methods to snatch up tickets. Calls for Ticketmaster and Swift to do more to combat this problem.
– Disappointment when ticket sites crash or when waiting in queues for hours only to get nothing.
– Outrage at the high costs of tickets on secondary resale sites, making them unaffordable for average fans.
– Sadness and frustration at the realization they may not be able to see their favorite artist live after all.
– Excitement when they actually do score tickets, given how hard that has proven.
– Trying again and remaining persistent, in hopes that more tickets may eventually be released.
– Eagerness to find alternative approaches, whether contests, giveaways, or waiting until closer to shows.
Hulu Documentary
Given all the challenges and drama around getting Taylor Swift tickets, this situation seems ripe for deeper exploration. While nothing has been officially announced yet, there are rumors that streaming service Hulu may be working on a documentary investigating the ticket-buying process and Scalpers.
The rumored Hulu documentary would:
– Follow several Swifties as they try to secure the elusive Taylor Swift tickets.
– Examine why ticket buying experiences have become so difficult.
– Explore the ticket resale industry and accusations of price gouging.
– Feature interviews with ticket industry insiders about possible solutions and changes.
– Get reactions from fans who did and did not get tickets.
– Look at technology like bots that unfairly buy up tickets.
– Suggest reforms and improvements to ticket buying and distributing systems.
– Go behind the scenes with Ticketmaster.
– Profile the most dedicated fans and their efforts to get tickets.
This rumored documentary has not been confirmed by Hulu. But they likely recognize this could resonate with a wide audience beyond just Taylor Swift fans. The difficulties of buying tickets affect concert goers across the music industry.
Potential Changes and Improvements
While nothing can fully satisfy the enormous demand, there are some potential changes that could improve the Taylor Swift ticket buying experience:
– More transparency around number of tickets available per show to set proper expectations.
– Stronger verification procedures and CAPTCHA to block bots and scalpers.
– Limiting number of tickets individuals can buy to 2-4 per person.
– Staggering sales over multiple rounds so more individual fans can access.
– Higher fees and cracking down on resale sites price gouging.
– Paperless/digital only ticketing requiring IDs to prevent resale.
– Lotteries or first-come, first-served physical ticket lines for some seats.
– Partnerships with fan clubs and artist platforms to expand verified presales.
– Special packages or show tapings to give more fans some type of access.
Conclusion
Getting tickets to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour has proven extremely difficult due to intense demand that vastly exceeds the limited supply. Millions of fans are competing for tickets, with many forced to pay inflated prices on secondary resale sites. Rumors suggest streaming platform Hulu may be planning a documentary focused on the challenges of buying Taylor Swift tickets and the ticket resale industry. While no system could satisfy all fans given the imbalance of supply and demand, there are hopes improved practices could make ticket buying a little easier and more fair.