Lately, the music world has been reading a lot about the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift debacle that saddened both the singer and her fans during her tour. Due to an error at Ticketmaster’s end, thousands of fans could not buy tickets for their favorite singer’s concerts and missed maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Ticketmaster is one of the biggest websites where you can buy tickets, and they teamed up with Taylor Swift to sell the successful singer’s tour tickets on their website. However, many fans expressed their concerns about not being able to buy any tickets and missing a huge opportunity for them. It is the biggest outcome of the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift debacle. It was known that interest would be very high in Swift’s concerts, and apparently, she was assured that Ticketmaster could handle the situation. However, the ticket company failed to complete the service, and recently, the board members apologized to Swift and her fans.
Here are the latest updates on the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift debacle
Months after its system was overloaded by demand for the Eras Tour, Ticketmaster apologized to Taylor Swift and her fans in front of the US Senate. Apparently, the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift debacle by caused by a bot attack, which is not surprising at all. The attacks occurred despite the usage of Ticketmaster’s “verified fan” program, which asks customers to pre-register their interests so that the firm may verify whether they are actual fans who want to attend the performance. The company revealed for the first time how its systems had been hacked by software “bots” used to purchase tickets in its written evidence fraudulently. Before the US Senators’ comments on Tuesday. President of Live Nation Joe Berchtold described it as “a terrible consumer experience”.
“We need to do better and we will. We knew bots would attack… and planned accordingly. We were then hit with three times the amount of bot traffic than we had ever experienced, and for the first time in 400 Verified Fan onsales they came after our Verified Fan access code servers.”
Joe Berchtold, president of Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company
70% of US ticket sales are under the responsibility of Ticketmaster, according to Senator Amy Klobuchar, who serves as chair of the Senate committee on consumer protection. To protest the company, there was a small group of people outside the Capitol building.
“The high fees, site disruptions and cancellations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar
What happened between Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift?
One of the biggest fiascos happened before the famous singer Taylor Swift’s music tour. Many fans could not buy tickets for the concerts despite spending hours of their time. Due to problems that Ticketmaster caused, many fans showed their anger, and Taylor Swift was also involved in the case and tried her best to spread information and speak out. Some people tried to register for the presale and most of them were unable to get their presale codes for the tour. After the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift debacle, the company’s owner Live Nation’s president, Joe Berchtold was accused of using monopoly power to dominate the ticketing and live events industry. Due to allegations of monopoly, antitrust law violations, and infringement of consumer rights, the Department of Justice launched a formal inquiry into Live Nation Entertainment. Moreover, fans have also been filing a lawsuit against the company in search of their rights. Ticketmaster shared a tweet apologizing for the incident but of course, it wasn’t enough for the fans who missed the concerts and failed to buy tickets.
It looks like it won’t be the end of the outcomes of the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift debacle. More information will come in the future.
