Ticketmaster rolls out its favorite excuse for the Taylor Swift tickets fiasco: “Unprecedented demand” from fans
Ticketmaster’s explanation for what went wrong during this week’s Taylor Swift tickets fiasco is finally here. And, as you might have predicted from this company of rapacious, suit-wearing vampires who’ve systematically turned the live concert industry into a shady and universally despised cabal, Ticketmaster’s response is complete drivel.
We’ll start with the least surprising part of the response, wherein Ticketmaster rolled out its favorite excuse to explain away its failures: “Unprecedented” demand. Who knew Taylor Swift, one of the biggest recording and performing artists in the industry today, would spark a frenzy among fans for her first concert tour in years, right?
It’s the same line the company trots out every time a big artist hits the road or plans dates for a specific venue, as huge acts like Adele and BTS did earlier this year. And it’s a neat semantic trick, because it also (tries to) absolve the company of its failures. It’s not us, in other words. It’s all of you thirsty heathens who want so many tickets.
AOC says what every Taylor Swift fan is thinking today: Ticketmaster is the worst
Here, though, is the part of Ticketmaster’s response to the Taylor Verified Fans pre-sale, specifically, that gave me pause. “Historically,” Ticketmaster says, “around 40% of invited fans actually show up and buy tickets, and most purchase an average of 3 tickets.
“So working with the artist team, around 1.5 million people were invited to participate in the on sale for all 52 show dates, including the 47 sold by Ticketmaster. The remaining 2 million Verified Fans were put on the waiting list.”
Did you catch that?
Ticketmaster wants you to think the Taylor sale was equivalent to a giant party that someone decides to host, and it falls apart when too many people decide to show up.
