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Taylor Swift slammed over controversial partnership with Ticketmaster that aims to stop touts

The singer is under fire over her endorsement of the ‘verified fan’ programme.

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EARLIER THIS WEEK Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster announced that she would be using Ticketmaster’s ‘Verified Fan’ programme that supposedly keeps tickets from the hands of resellers.

The Verified Fan programme, which is currently only operating in the United States, requires fans to register in advance of ticket releases. After this, they receive a code that allows them to buy tickets, but not everyone is eligible to register.

Singles charts Dominic Lipinski Dominic Lipinski

Billboard explained exactly how this works:

Ticketmaster uses “proprietary data science technology” to try determine whether potential buyers are likely to be scalpers or fans – which presumably means no Swift tickets for Phish heads unless an algorithm determines they’re probably parents – and only approves the latter.
A couple of hours before tickets go on sale, Ticketmaster sends a text message with a code to some consumers – not everyone who qualifies gets one – who enter it to buy tickets much as they otherwise would.

Aside from concerns about data collection, this is problematic in another couple of ways.

Firstly, fans have been told that they can ‘maximise their chances’ of being selected for tickets by registering on TaylorSwift.com, buying her merchandise and picking a city in which they want to the singer to perform.

This means that fans are being backed into a corner, where they are feeling as if they have to buy merchandise and share personal data such as their location with the singer’s website  (which is obviously beneficial to her and her label) in order to get concert tickets.

As if trying to get concert tickets for a child with huge expectations isn’t one of the most stressful things a parent can do already.

The programme has yet to roll out in Ireland, but it’s probably only a matter of time, considering the extra steps that Ed Sheeran is taking to stop touting for his Irish concerts.

Secondly, fans can’t even be certain that this will guarantee them tickets. Billboard’s Robert Levine who explains the Verified Fan programme shared his personal experience purchasing tickets for the Broadway show Hamilton.

Levine spent 30 minutes being told that excellent seats for the show were available but was met with an error message every time he attempted to purchase them.

He finally came back to the computer two hours later to try again and had to opt for below-average group of seats three months after the original date he attempted to buy tickets for and *finally* got the tickets.

As we all know, unlike Broadway shows that run for months, there’s very little flexibility for concert tickets.

Rock on the Range Music Festival 2016 - Day 1 Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari Daniel DeSlover Daniel DeSlover

Enter Shikari vocalist Rou Reynolds ranted on Twitter about Swift and Ticketmasters ‘sickening’ ‘ultra-capitalistic exploitation of fans’.

PastedImage-16738 Rou Reyno / Twitter Rou Reyno / Twitter / Twitter

PastedImage-62719 Rou Reyno / Twitter Rou Reyno / Twitter / Twitter

Fans of Enter Shikari agreed with Reynolds.

However Swift’s super-fans rushed in to defend her, insisting that they all would have at least bought a hard copy of the album ahead of the concert anyway.

PastedImage-42066 Rou Reyno / Twitter Rou Reyno / Twitter / Twitter

Would fans really buy a hard copy of the CD in 2017 though? Whatever about back when they didn’t want to download it illegally, but everyone uses music streaming services.

Consequence of Sound pointed out that express delivery on the CD, which some people will ultimately opt for, brings the cost of a single CD up to $63.

PastedImage-63477 Consequence of Sound Consequence of Sound

This is the ‘cute animated video’ that Consequence of Sound were critical of:

Taylor Swift / YouTube

They sum it up with “Basically, give Swift a lot of extra money or join her publicity team to ensure you have not a ticket – but simply a place in line for the opportunity to purchase a ticket.”

Finally, they point out that fans are able to purchase Swift’s album ‘up to 13 times’ to receive boosts on their position in line.

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Written by Kelly Earley and posted on DailyEdge.ie

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    Mute phil
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:32 AM

    Ticket Master could release all tickets for all events on their main website at once.

    Personally I think they hold onto a couple of thousand for seatwave

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    Mute Morgan Freeman
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    Aug 31st 2017, 7:19 PM

    @phil: it’s a fact they do. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WWlnL8drSdw

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    Mute Sean
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    Aug 31st 2017, 11:43 PM

    @phil: it is not just TM. the artist and promoter frequently get a percentage of tickets to sell on reseller platforms at multiples of face value. Often the same artist then appears on social media decrying touts. Some artists have been caught out doing this. Doesn’t play well with suckers, I mean fans but they quickly forget.

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:46 AM

    Stop people reselling tickets. Put names on each one. If a person can’t make it they can sell it back to ticketmaster who can then resell it at the original price.

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    Mute Don Juan
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:56 AM

    @Awkward Seal: That’s what the European Tour do with Ryder Cup tickets. No ID match, no entry.

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    Mute Robert Rusk
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    Aug 31st 2017, 9:16 AM

    @Awkward Seal: Glastonbury have been doing this for years and nobody has been complaining

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    Mute Cindy Crawford
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:47 AM

    We all know Ticketmaster is the biggest tout.

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    Mute David Dineen
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:49 AM

    Its a cartel plain and simple,nobody wants to rock the boat and prevent the gravy train from being derailed. The apple approach to branding and seeing its customers as commodity’s instead of humans cant continue to be applied everywhere.

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    Mute Don Juan
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:55 AM

    Going into partnership with the biggest scalpers of all. Just sell the fookin tickets in shops. People who really want them will queue.

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    Mute Rob Cahill
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    Aug 31st 2017, 9:12 AM

    Why they can’t just sell them the way they sell flight tickets is beyond me. There’s f@#k all touting going on there.

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    Mute Gulliver Foyle
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:59 AM

    This is just greed and fleecing on behalf of Ms Swift. Ed Sheeran seems to have at least got it right where there seemed to have been no problem getting tickets (for the kids) as they were released in blocks, but using ticketmaster still kept it open for touts (although they don’t seem to be on seatwave). Having a “fan boost” does not increase the chances of people who are fans getting a ticket, just whoever is able to afford the most official overpriced merchandise.

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    Mute Ronan Sexton
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    Aug 31st 2017, 9:30 AM

    Ticketmaster are the biggest touts out there with their scam company seatwave. The sooner bands start issuing tickets through their own websites, the better. These big acts don”t sell out in minutes, ticketmaster simply transfer thousands over to their scam company seatwave. This corrupt scam needs to be stamped out.

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    Mute Unitedpeople
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    Aug 31st 2017, 4:29 PM

    I think the time for Ticketmaster to be boycotted by artists, has come.

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    Mute Starburst
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    Aug 31st 2017, 8:46 AM

    Hope the backlash changes her position. Ticket master and other big internet services are always up to something to get info on customers. Like a dog around a bitch in heat

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    Mute Sean
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    Aug 31st 2017, 11:45 PM

    I don’t get why anyone likes Taylor Swift. She’s not hot. Her songs aren’t hectic. No accounting for taste I suppose.

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