Ticketmaster swiftly erupts in flames

Fans+of+Taylor+Swift+are+greatly+upset+over+the+way+Ticketmaster+conducted+ticket+sales+for+Swifts+tour.

Courtesy of Billboard.com

Fans of Taylor Swift are greatly upset over the way Ticketmaster conducted ticket sales for Swift’s tour.

Ticketmaster’s blunder leaves many Taylor Swift fans with bad blood toward the company.

On Tuesday, November 15, Ticketmaster began the presale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. While Ticketmaster said they were equipped to handle the influx of fans attempting to buy tickets on their website, ultimately many prospective buyers experienced technical difficulties for hours, leaving many fans unhappy.

Fans came out in droves to buy tickets at an unprecedented rate this year due to Swift’s lack of concerts in the last five years. Swift’s last tour was for her sixth album, “Reputation.” Since then, Swift has released four albums, “Lover,” “Folklore,” “Evermore” and her newest album “Midnights.” As a result, fans, both old and new, are excited to experience years of Swift’s music in one concert.

Following the fiasco on Tuesday, Ticketmaster announced on Twitter on Thursday that the general sale set for Friday, November 18 is canceled due to insufficient inventory. According to a blog post by Ticketmaster, the number of Verified Fans attempting to buy tickets, 3.5 million, was the “largest in history.”

Now, fans who were either kicked out of the queue buying tickets earlier in the week or waited for the general sale are angered by Ticketmaster’s inability to properly manage their website. However, Ticketmaster announced that they were unable to handle the amount of traffic on the website due to bot attacks and fans accessing the presale without presale codes.

Swift’s fans are also angered by the soaring prices of tickets. While Swift promised to keep ticket prices affordable on Ticketmaster, third party sites already have tickets selling for as much as $28,000 with nosebleed seats costing $1,000 or more.

As a result of the massive amount of media attention Ticketmaster has garnered, the Department of Justice has now launched an investigation into Live Nation Entertainment, the owner of Ticketmaster. The antitrust investigation will center around whether Live Nation Entertainment has monopolized and abused its power within the live music industry.

In response to all the controversy, Swift took to Instagram to air her own side of the story.

“I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” wrote Swift. “It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.”