On Nov. 15, the verified presale for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local venue time. As people kept their eyes glued to Ticketmaster, something went wrong. Even after an hour, the line wasn’t moving. Supposedly, the spots people got in the line of the queue were randomized, resulting in some fans having over 50,000 people in front of them and some with only 300.
Madness ran through the school hallways as people walked around with their laptops open, not taking their eyes away even for a moment. Ticketmaster had given an update, stating that the queue was temporarily paused because of technical difficulties. Many students had to pass their laptops to their friends because they had classes that didn’t allow outside technology.
Junior Olivia Hart is an avid Taylor Swift fan and planned to go to her concert in Chicago. “I was heartbroken I wasn’t going to get tickets because I got waitlisted. Fortunately, my friend got a presale code. Since I had tests in some of my classes, I had to trust my friend to secure tickets,” Hart stated.
Many fans who signed up for verified fan presales over two weeks prior to the sale got waitlisted. Junior Max Muszalski is a Capital One cardholder and also got waitlisted. “I have been a big Taylor Swift fan ever since I went to the Reputation tour five years ago. I was disappointed I didn’t get presale and asked around if anyone would get me an extra ticket. Luckily, my mom got a presale code and bought tickets for me,” Muszalski stated.
Junior Maddie Cox had been waiting in the queue for over four hours. When the line finally started moving quickly around 2 p.m., she had the chance to get her tickets. However, when she went to check out, an error occurred. She tried to get in again and devastatingly, the site crashed.
“Some people who got tickets are only going because of the hype. I actually listen to her music, she is my number one artist on Spotify, and it was unfair that many die-hard fans didn’t get tickets,” Cox said.
Presales for many cities were postponed, and Ticketmaster was crashing on people’s laptops across the country. The demand for “The Eras Tour” was expected as this is Swift’s first time touring in five years. Despite this, Ticketmaster wasn’t prepared for the demand for tickets, causing many fans to be let down. Because all the tickets were sold out, Ticketmaster canceled the general public sale that was set to launch on Nov. 18, and fans who didn’t get a presale code didn’t have the chance to get tickets. Many people were disappointed in this outcome, as they had waited years to see Taylor Swift in concert.
