Taylor Swift is one of the biggest pop stars in the world, with millions of fans across the globe. When she announces a new tour or puts tickets on sale, demand is sky high. Her latest tour, in support of her albums “Lover” and “Midnights,” was no exception. Millions of eager fans tried to get tickets, resulting in massive online queues and tickets selling out in minutes.
Taylor’s Popularity and Fanbase
Swift first rose to fame as a country music star in 2006 with her debut single “Tim McGraw” and self-titled album. She has since crossed over to pop and become one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Swift has won 11 Grammy Awards, including three Album of the Year awards, and has had multiple chart-topping albums and singles. According to Billboard, she was the highest-paid musician in the world in 2019.
Swift has a highly passionate, loyal fanbase who call themselves “Swifties.” They support her music and career with incredible enthusiasm. On social media, Swift has 89 million followers on Twitter, 153 million on Instagram, and 44 million on Facebook. Her reach allows her to easily communicate with fans and sell out shows and merchandise.
Pollstar reported that Swift’s “Reputation” stadium tour in 2018 was the highest-grossing tour in US history, grossing over $266 million with more than 2 million attendees. When tickets went on sale in 2017, they sold out nearly instantly. Her fanbase has only continued to grow since then.
The Eras Tour Ticket Demand
In November 2021, Swift announced her first tour since 2018, called “The Eras Tour.” The tour would feature Swift performing songs from across her entire catalog, including hits from her newer alternative/indie pop albums “Folklore,” “Evermore,” and “Midnights.”
Registration for the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program opened on November 1, 2022. Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for the chance to get a code to buy tickets early. The massive interest crashed the registration page briefly.
On November 15, Ticketmaster announced over 1.5 million Verified Fans were invited to participate in the pre-sales. Invites were prioritized based on fans’ histories of purchasing and attending Swift’s tours and shows.
The Capital One pre-sale on November 15 was plagued with long online queues, website errors, and tickets selling out in minutes. Ticketmaster stated over 2 million tickets were sold on November 15, but it’s unclear how many separate buyers that included.
Breakdown of The Eras Tour Ticket Sales
Total pre-sale registrations | 3.5 million |
---|---|
Verified Fans invited | 1.5 million |
Tickets sold on Nov 15 pre-sale | Over 2 million |
The huge demand from Swift’s fans repeatedly overwhelmed Ticketmaster’s website and servers. Many fans reported waiting for hours in queues over 1,000+ people long only to be kicked out and not get tickets.
General ticket sales for most shows were postponed from November 18 to November 20 due to the issues. However, Ticketmaster later fully cancelled public sales for all shows due to “insufficient remaining ticket inventory.”
Causes of High Demand
There are several factors that contributed to the incredibly high demand and interest in Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour tickets:
Swift’s Popularity and Dedicated Fanbase
As mentioned, Swift has one of the largest and most passionate fanbases in music. Her fans are excited to see her perform for the first time in 5 years, especially playing her older hits.
Scarcity of Tickets
Stadium tours like The Eras Tour inherently have less availability than arena tours. Swift is playing massive 65,000+ seat stadiums, but the number of tickets is still limited.
Additionally, more than 50% of tickets are held back for presales, VIP packages, radio stations, artist and venue allotments, etc. So only a fraction go on sale to the general public.
High Ticket Demand for Other Artists
Post-pandemic demand for live concerts and events has skyrocketed. Tours by artists like Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, and Red Hot Chili Peppers have seen tickets sell out nearly instantly. Fans likely anticipated Swift’s tickets would follow suit.
Limited Tour Dates
Swift only announced 27 North American tour dates for 2023. With such limited opportunities in fewer cities, fans from all over tried to get tickets.
Album Release
The Eras Tour coincided with Swift’s brand new studio album “Midnights.” New music releases always spike interest, so fans were extra enthused to see her supporting her latest album.
Impact on Future Swift Tours
The issues surrounding The Eras Tour ticket sales will likely impact planning for Swift’s tours in the future. Here are some possible changes we could see:
Larger Venues
Swift may book larger stadiums and expand her number of shows per city to accommodate more fans.
Revised Presales
Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program and presales may be re-evaluated after failing to provide a smooth purchasing experience.
Registration Limit
Capping or limiting the number of fans allowed to register for presales could prevent website crashes and long queues.
Lotteries
Using randomized lotteries to determine presale eligibility may be more fair than basing it on purchase history.
Resale Restrictions
Restricting resale of tickets on secondary markets could help get tickets directly to fans.
Conclusion
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour saw absolutely unprecedented demand from millions of adoring fans in North America. At least 3.5 million people attempted to buy tickets during presales, crashing Ticketmaster’s systems. While exact numbers are unknown, its clear millions tried desperately but failed to get the coveted tickets.
This debacle demonstrates that Swift remains one of the most popular music artists in the world. However, it also revealed issues in ticketing systems. Swift’s team and concert organizers will need to adapt to better serve Swifties for any future tours the pop superstar announces.