TicketMaster: A “Swiftie’s” Worst Nightmare
The queue to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was outrageous!
January 19, 2023
To purchase tickets to a concert or show, TicketMaster is the place to go. With many available options on seats and prices, these websites make it easier to purchase concert tickets. However, TicketMaster has recently had some trouble with its website. Many people are complaining about the functionality and are even suing TicketMaster for fraud, price-fixing, and anti-trust violations.
The recent announcement of Taylor Swift going on tour is huge for many fans across the United States. Taylor Swift partnered up with CapitalOne and TicketMaster and created presale codes that were assigned to Swifties that signed up. Some fans report that the access codes (created to deter bots) still were being resold at a higher price online while the presale was going on. Just hours after it tickets were on sale, the resale already began pricing tickets up to $22,000 dollars! Luckily, somehow I got tickets.That morning, TicketMaster announced the presale opening at 1oam and the queue opened at 9:30. I was already texting my mom to join and at school. My peers and I were stressing. During break, I got a text from my mom telling me that ticket sales were postponed till 3 o’clock. This just stressed me even more. By the time I got home, it was 2:45 and I was ready to jump into the queue and wait for tickets. Once I got to the queue I saw this traumatizing blue line, and above it said “2000+ people in front of you”. I was ready to scream. By the time I got into the page it was 4:30.
I don’t know what I would do without these tickets, I can’t imagine how it must be for people who did not get any!
— Dhyani Balsara
My mom and I waited for over an hour just to get tickets. The blue line slowly progressed across my screen as I finally saw only 1 person ahead. I was jumping up and down and I finally am ready to get tickets. Most of the seats were already gone, and I finally clicked on a seat that I was alright with. Right before I clicked the checkout button, a small popup said ‘Whoop’s another fan beat you to these seats!’ This was just about my breaking point. I finally did end up getting tickets, and I know many of my friends who did not. Sophomore Dhyani Balsara (10) states that “I don’t know what I would do without these tickets, I can’t imagine how it must be for people who did not get any!”
According to my Mom, “This was one of the most stressful things I have done all year, and I don’t even like Taylor Swift!”
Well it’s a good thing I do!
Anjeli Webb • Mar 9, 2023 at 8:13 AM
Thank you for writing this article Simran! The whole Ticketmaster scandal was a sign of the times, and it is an important article to have written. The anecdotes made it more personal and relatable to other high school students. Good job speaking to the student body!
Natalie • Mar 9, 2023 at 7:31 AM
I have never tried to buy tickets for a concert before on Ticket Master, but I had heard that the prices for the Taylor Swift concert were outrageous. Honestly, I had no idea the prices were so out of hand and this was a very interesting read
Noelle Wu • Mar 9, 2023 at 7:27 AM
I really like the narrative aspect that you added to your article – it adds more drama and how important this is to a Swiftie 🙂 I also liked how it wasn’t so serious and you ended with a comedic line
Sophia Jones • Mar 9, 2023 at 7:22 AM
This is a very interesting article! I am so glad you got your tickets; I was on an emotional rollercoaster just reading your article!