Taylor Swift’s recent deal with Ticketmaster has riled the singer’s legion of fans.
“Taylor Swift is providing earlier access to tickets to fans who buy multiple copies so the album. This is how she’s going to sell 1m copies.”
“Given that a large section of her fans will be kids badgering their parents, this is disgraceful.”
“Taylor Swift is a scam artist”
— just a sampling from Taylor Swift fans and critics on Twitter.
To help fans secure tickets for her upcoming concerts, Taylor Swift has teamed up with Ticketmaster to launch a new program. However, the singer’s fans have quickly decried the move, with some blasting it as a shameless scam.
The “Taylor Swift TIX powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan” program will help get tickets into fans’ hands. The Verified Fan program uses an algorithm that verifies whether the buyer is a bot, a scalper, or a fan. Sounds like a great idea, until you start diving into the details.
Basically, all purchasers will be entered into a virtual line. However, to guarantee that your chance of obtaining a ticket to an unannounced Taylor Swift concert, you’ll have to prove that you’re a fan.
How? By promoting the singer and/or purchasing merchandise through her website.
According to the official tickets site on Taylor Swift’s website, here’s how the program works. First, you’ll need to visit tickets.taylorswift.com here. Then, through the site, you’ll have to log into your ticketmaster.com account. Once you’ve logged in, you’ll have to complete the Promotion registration form.
To ensure that you “improve your position in line to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming concert tour,” you’ll have to do one or more of the following:
1. Go to the Taylor Swift Official Store located at store.taylorswift.com.
2. Purchase merchandise items using the same e-mail address linked to your Ticketmaster account to “boost your activity score.”
3. Between August 25th, 2017 and November 9th, 2017, pre-order Taylor Swift’s Reputation. Again, you’ll need to use the same e-mail address linked to your Ticketmaster account to “boost your activity score.” Once the album arrives at your physical address, “look inside for an additional unique code that is printed inside.” Then, go to tickets.taylorswift.com, log right in to your Verified Fan account, and type in the unique Fan Code. Submit the code to receive your “Boost.”
4. Between November 10th, 2017 and November 27th, 2017, if you haven’t pre-ordered Reputation, then purchase the album. Again, Ticketmaster stresses that using “the same email address as your Ticketmaster.com account will automatically boost your activity score.” Once the album arrives at your physical address, look for the unique code printed inside. Follow the same instructions as the previous step to register your code.
5. You can also order the physical album online at Target.com and at Walmart.com. If you won’t order the physical album, Ticketmaster has several steps you can take to order the album digitally through iTunes.
6. Go to Target.com. Pre-order Taylor Swift’s reputation to receive an Order ID. You’ll receive the Order ID via an e-mail from Target.com. Next, go to tickets.taylorswift.com, login to your Verified Fan account, and submit the Order ID to get your Boost. When the album arrives at your physical address, you’ll receive an additional Fan Code printed inside. Enter your Fan Code on the site to receive a Boost.
7. Go to Walmart.com. As with Target.com, pre-order Taylor Swift’s reputation to receive an Order ID. You’ll receive the Order ID via an e-mail from Walmart.com. Once the album arrives by mail, you’ll receive an additional Fan Code printed inside. Enter your Fan Code on the site to receive a Boost.
8. Go to iTunes. Pre-order or order Taylor Swift’s reputation by November 26th, 2017 to receive a Fan Code. You’ll receive the Fan Code through iTunes. Then, go to tickets.taylorswift.com, login to your Verified Fan account, and submit the code to get your Boost. You can only submit one iTunes Boost per registration. If you cancel or return your order, Ticketmaster will delete your Boost.
You can also receive special boosts by watching Taylor Swift videos or joining the singer’s official mailing list. Ticketmaster outlines the steps below.
1. Go to tickets.taylorswift.com and login to your Ticketmaster account. You can also create a free account if you don’t have one. Then, watch the designated Taylor Swift video.
2. Join the Taylor Swift official mailing list during registration or go to tickets.taylorswift.com/entry/activity/email to sign-up. Get your friends to register using your unique personalized referral link.
The program has already caused a firestorm on social media. Upset fans have decried the program as a scam. Here are some responses posted on Twitter.
“Damn Taylor Swift is screwing over all of her fans so hard with this stupid Ticketmaster scam. She sucks.”
“Given that a large section of her fans will be kids badgering their parents, this is disgraceful.”
“me, showing Taylor my empty bank account after buying tour tickets and all of her new merch: look what you made me do.”
“tbh i don’t think the “Taylor Swift Tix” thing is very fair. whoever spends the most money is held as a priority for tickets.”
“Taylor Swift is a scam artist”
“Taylor Swift is providing earlier access to tickets to fans who buy multiple copies so the album. This is how she’s going to sell 1m copies.”
“I seriously take this Taylor Swift/Ticketmaster scam as a sign that this new album of hers is going to be absolutely dreadful.”
“Ok honestly this is so annoying. I understand it’ll help eliminate bots but I am a die hard why should I have to buy expensive merch…”
Veteran music industry analyst and author Bob Lefsetz has also lambasted the program.
“Only a tween would take the time, and many are gonna be frustrated and angry when they lay down dough and find out they’re closed out. Parents will be up in arms… all because Taylor Swift is greedy.
“This is a naked dash for cash, an effort to sell albums so she can publicize how successful she is, as if it all matters, as if anybody can equal the stature and ubiquity of the classic rock acts, whether it be the vaunted Beatles or the Stones who never sold albums but can still sell out stadiums today.”
Image by Eva Rinaldi (CC by 2.0)
Because of that Nazi era font she’s using?
Have you tried to ban her yet? Did it work?
I see nothing at all wrong with this.
I would characterize this as an innovation.
Shouldn’t price ration scarce resources?
Oh no, someone who is willing to pay more for something has a better chance of getting the thing? Has anyone used Ebay before? This is like an auction, and I applaud these innovations, if they work.
It’s a way for Taylor Swift to maximize the amount of money that goes to her. That’s how it should work. I don’t know how much a Taylor Swift ticket nominally goes for – let’s say $100. It could be much more, perhaps. But let’s say $100.
Ordinarily, 50,000 seat stadium, $100 a ticket, $5 Million to Taylor Swift. Scalpers use bots to grab all the tickets, and they sell them for $200. $5 Million to scalpers using bots.
Demand exceeds supply here. Who gets the tickets? The people who buy the tickets from the scalpers with the bots? That doesn’t seem like the way to go at all.
A system that creates an ordered line based on how much money the ticket buyer has given to the act seems like the best way to ration scarce resources, not scalpers with bots.
I would, at this point, applaud the innovation.
What would be interesting would be if at some point, these concerts are priced extremely low, way below a price where it would sell out, and every show would sell out but everyone has to buy something to get themselves a place on line.
It’s obviously useful for something that’s going to sell out, to extract more money, but it could also be useful in other situations, A $15 show could become a $10 show, with that whole lining up thing, where some would be spending $20+.
It really seems that this could be a solution to a real problem, in favor of this.
I agree. Why should scalpers make all the money. Im gonna buy it anyway. I could never afford a concert either way. Smart plan
If you actually look you will notice that you can also promote her by watching the videos and on social media to get boasts. There is nothing wrong with this idea. It is not all about the money. Even if it was, who cares! It is the music industry, other artist do it as well. Also it isn’t just teens doing it. I am doing participating in it and I am no where near a teen. I was going to buy the album and watch the video anyway, why not get a better chance to get tickets.
THANK YOU TAYLOR FOR HELPING FANS GET ACCESS TO YOUR TICKETS AT REASONABLE COSTS INSTEAD OF THROUGH 3RD PARTY SITES!!!!!
Agree.
And people are complaining about scam as it relates to the charts. Here, real people are buying a real product. Scams happen all the time to influence charts. Big corporations can buy 1 Million albums and give them away. That’s a scam. Bots with pay spotify accounts can play songs over and over, giving a single song thousands of plays in a month.
Yes! All these critics (haters) keep conveniently failing to mention that you can watch her videos for FREE and also get boosts. Lots of fans buy tickets. How do you make it so the craziest fans get the best seats? Let them do what they do best! Act like crazy Swifties ? I myself (and sounds like you as well!) am happy to watch 40 videos a day to demonstrate I deserve to be near the front of the line for the best seats. Why should the casual, fair-weather fan have the same access as those of us willing to spend 3 hours a day watching and sharing?! I’ve bought 1 album and no merchandise (bc what I want is sold out), but I’m still in the green thanks to all the video watching!
There’s another way to beat scalpers: just charge the actual price that people willing to pay.
A bunch of people will gladly pay $1,000 (or a lot more) to see Taylor Swift front row. Scalpers exist because of the difference in the initial purchase price and this $1,000 ‘real’ price (as determined by willing buyers)
That’s the problem Paul – No artist is willing to openly charge what they can get for tickets because of the perception that it creates. But it’s a fact that many of these same acts that won’t openly charge that kind of money will willingly allow their best seats to sold on the secondary market and profit from it enormously.
Swift will come to learn the hard way you don’t overcharge your legitimate fans (without even a guarantee that they’ll get a ticket!) to stop the scalpers from selling tickets. She needs to take a lesson from Springsteen – who is handling the “insane demand” for those 32 theater shows at a 946 seat venue in a much more more appropriate and fair way.
Man, look at these people so passionately defending someone who is scamming them as we speak. What a “cult of personality” this girl has built. It’s actually scary.
Artificially low ticket prices = bonanza for scalpers.
This was another pure straight genius move by Taylor and her team. No fans on twitter are upset, just overall haters. Fans will surely appreciate the move and anyone else will either go to the show or not since they don’t care as much as those who are dying to get their spot. I love her more because of this.