Frustrated fans are calling out Ticketmaster after its failure to produce a smooth ticket sale for Taylor Swifts’ upcoming tour. Those who were selected obtained a verified plan for a  code to ensure their early access presale tickets, however, the site crashed and caused delays which left many to question the site’s credibility.

Ticketmaster had promised Swift’s team that they were prepared for the high demand for tickets and Swift said later in a statement on her Instagram 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.” 

Those selected for verified presale waited for hours for the chance to buy tickets on the website, with many having no luck. Fans were especially frustrated with the website, since they sent specific instructions for those with verified presale to have a smooth ticket buying experience. The website was not prepared for the demand and still crashed, despite fans’ efforts to follow instructions.  Ticketmaster’s response to the crashing of the site stated, “There has been historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up to buy tickets for the TaylorSwiftTix Presale.”

Since too many tickets were sold during the presale, Ticketmaster announced that they are cancelling their planned public sale of tour tickets, leaving more fans without even a chance of scoring tickets. 

Stephanie Sandoval, early childhood studies major, expressed her frustrations with the Ticketmaster, “The whole point of being a verified fan is to get the presale tickets, which means we shouldn’t have had to wait 2 hours to even get the chance to see the tickets available.” Sandoval further explained how upsetting it was to be stuck in the online waiting room, to only be let in when the tickets were basically sold out.

Swift also stated in her statement, “It goes without saying that I’m extremely protective of my fans,” She continued, “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”

Others pointed out an even bigger issue when it comes to Ticketmaster. U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) shared in a tweet, “Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly. Its merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up.” Many were upset about not being able to secure their ticket or their code not working but AOC shed light on a topic many may have not thought about or known. 

In response, a U.S. Senate antitrust hearing panel is set to have a hearing for the ticketing incident. According to a Billboard article by Marc Shneider, Senator Amy Klobuchar wrote, “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.”

Ticketmaster and Livenation, both notably known ticket sale companies, have been merged together since 2009. The longer these two companies stay together the more likely they will be a continuum of issues like skyrocketing prices of concert tickets. Almost everyone loves a sale or a decent pricing for tickets. The issue alone is raising a red flag as others may describe it as an abuse of power.

Although the hearing has yet to have a date, this will hopefully set a standard and make sure Ticketmaster is held accountable. Legally, the companies may be in the wrong. When describing what should have been done on the company’s part, Sandoval said, “Even if they were so certain they would be able to handle the number of people joining the queues at once, they should have been prepared with a plan b. Especially since Taylor has one of the biggest fan bases in the world.” 

Tours are one the best ways for artists to connect with their fans and make memories to look back on. Knowing this as a company, the main priority should have been to make sure customers were able to use the site with ease. The high demand for tickets was not a surprise to others knowing Taylor’s Swift impact on her fans. Ticketmaster simply should have been more prepared.