Taylor Swift laments Ticketmaster monopolistic fiasco

On Oct. 21, countless fans stayed up until late hours of the night to be one of the first to listen to Taylor Swift’s new album, “Midnights.” Within days after the new album release, Swift announced her next tour which would include songs from all eras of her music. Fans were over the moon as they attempted to obtain tickets. People waited hours for Ticketmaster to crash, resulting in many true Swifties not getting tickets. 

All about Taylor Swift’s new album

First, Gabbie Crone (‘24), a fan since the beginning, said that her favorite song off of “Midnights: Lavender Edition” is “Hits Different.” She said, “That one sounds almost like a 1989 type of song.” She also liked “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” that was on the “Midnights (3am Edition).” But, her overall favorite song off of the album is “You’re on Your Own Kid.” Explaining, “It definitely speaks to me more… being an eldest daughter, of having a lot of expectations on you, especially because neither of my parents went to college. So, I have to lead by example.” 

I also asked her about the sound of the album as a whole. She said, “I like that it changes. I like that it’s not consistent sound-wise because I feel like I’m able to gravitate towards different songs and enjoy the experience, as opposed to something like Evermore where it’s all very soft-pop/soft-indie.” 

I also spoke with Mallory Jackson (‘23) about her experience with the album. Overall, she felt a lot of emotions towards the album, “Some songs made me sad, while other songs were more sweet and cheerful. A lot of the things Taylor talks about I can relate to in my own life.” Jackson’s favorite song off the album was “You’re on Your Own Kid” because of the “great bridge.” 

What’s up with Ticketmaster? 

An eager Jackson waited several hours only to not obtain tickets. She commented on her experience saying, “[I feel] very frustrated. I waited 7 hours Monday and several hours Tuesday, to have tickets sell out both times while I was experiencing glitches and was unable to check out with my tickets.” 

On the other hand, Crone accepted her fate and didn’t even bother taking on the site. After the presale, many people got more tickets than they needed and decided to resell them for way more than they were worth. Concert tickets for the Eras Tour are now selling for up to $20k in some locations due to price gouging. 

After the whole debacle with Ticketmaster, Swift came out with an apology to her fans. There were mixed reactions to this apology as a lot of people have not forgiven Swift. 

Crone commented on the size of the concert venue in Chicago and how all three days are already sold out. She doesn’t understand how that couldn’t have been anticipated better on Ticketmaster’s part.  “You can’t say that it wasn’t the most highly anticipated tour of the decade so far. So I appreciate that she did apologize because I think that it seems that she usually does it herself or comes up with a way to buy tickets on her own site. But, Ticketmaster was like, ‘Oh no, we got it, we have it all under control,’ and then fumbled the bag.” 

The whole situation with Swift and Ticketmaster was a disaster and hopefully, it is never repeated again. This just goes to show how decisions that artists make can have both positive and negative impacts on their fans and it also shows just how corrupt monopolies like Ticketmaster can be.