Website errors, constant browser refreshing and hours-long waits that lead to dead ends.
Welcome to Ticketmaster on the day Taylor Swift announced her next tour.
Early Tuesday morning, Swift revealed on “Good Morning America” that she will be hitting the road in 2023 for her “Eras” tour and that fans can register for the presale event on Ticketmaster.
But just hours later, some Swifties were already angry at the ticket vendor.
“Not me waiting 6 hours to get presale for Taylor swift and the website saying there is an error. WTF!! @Ticketmaster,” tweeted one frustrated fan.
“I have now been ‘in line’ on @Ticketmaster for over 4 hours just for the privilege of registering to buy @taylorswift13 tickets. Not even but the tickets, mind you, just register to buy them. How can this company be so consistently awful, yet still exist?,” tweeted another Swift devotee.
Across social media, fans are taking issue with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fans buying process, where they can register for a chance to buy tickets in advance. Verified Fans doesn’t guarantee a ticket to Swift’s shows, but instead promises to “help ensure only fans are invited to buy tickets,” Ticketmaster said in its registration confirmation.
On the registration page, Ticketmaster did note that it “[expects] the demand for tickets to see Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour to be overwhelming.”
Presale tickets go live Nov. 15, but Twitter users are also complaining about “internal server error” pop-up messages and frozen pages on Ticketmaster.
“Ticketmaster DOES NOT HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE for a Taylor Swift tour,” wrote one Twitter user. “We knew this, we are seeing it now, and buying the actual tickets is going to be hell.”
As if registration wasn’t already hard enough, Ticketmaster said it is possible that “verified fans may be selected at random to participate in the presale,” if demand from registered Verified Fans “exceeds supply.”
Ticketmaster’s protocol is frustrating for some fans, but other Swifties on Twitter are coping by finding some humor in the fiasco.
“Taylor swift wrote glitch about the ticketmaster website,” tweeted a fan, referencing track No. 18 on the extended version of Swift’s new album, “Midnights,” which catapulted the musician to make history this week.
“ticketmaster to taylor swift fans for the next 3 weeks: ‘it’s me, hi, i’m the problem, it’s me,’” wrote a Twitter user, quoting a line from the single “Anti-Hero.”
Another Twitter user suggested that fans’ issues with Ticketmaster might mean more difficult times ahead.
“Listen, if ticketmaster was crashing like that for fan verification sign up for Taylor Swift’s tour, then ticketmaster is NOWHERE near ready for Beyoncé‘s tour,” tweeted user @popgoesthenella.
On “Good Morning America,” Swift described the tour as ” a journey through all of my musical eras of my career.” Joining the “Lavender Haze” singer as opening acts will be Paramore, Beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, Girl in Red, Muna, Haim, Gayle, Gracie Abrams and Owenn.
