Ticketmaster, the largest primary ticket outlet in the United States, experienced a major outage this week that left thousands of fans unable to purchase tickets for upcoming concerts and events. The outage occurred right as tickets were set to go on sale for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras tour, leaving many Swifties frustrated and unable to get tickets.
What caused the Ticketmaster outage?
According to Ticketmaster, the outage was caused by an “unprecedented number of bot attacks” as millions of fans tried to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift’s tour at the same time. Essentially, too much bot traffic overloaded Ticketmaster’s website and mobile app, crashing the system. This is not the first time Ticketmaster has experienced technical issues during a major ticket sale – Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen ticket sales also famously crashed the site due to high demand.
How long did the outage last?
The Ticketmaster outage lasted for several hours on November 15, 2022. Issues were reported across Ticketmaster’s website and mobile app beginning around 10AM EST, right as West Coast Taylor Swift fans began trying to purchase tour tickets. Ticketmaster did not resolve the issues until around 3:30PM EST, after nearly 6 hours of problems.
How did Ticketmaster respond?
Ticketmaster released several statements as the situation unfolded, first claiming there was an issue with the Verified Fan system used for the Taylor Swift tour pre-sale. They later clarified that “historically unprecedented demand” combined with “millions of bot attacks” were to blame. Many fans remained frustrated with the lack of transparency and inability to purchase tickets.
How many users were impacted?
Exact numbers are hard to confirm, but its safe to say millions of Taylor Swift fans were impacted by the Ticketmaster debacle. Swift has a massive global fanbase, particularly in the United States where Ticketmaster dominates ticket sales. The Eras Tour is Swift’s first since 2018, so demand was astronomical. Even fans with Verified Fan pre-sale codes were unable to purchase tickets due to crashed systems.
What is Taylor Swift saying?
Taylor Swift herself responded to the situation, posting on her Instagram Stories that it “really pisses her off” that many fans “feel like they went through several bear attacks” trying to get tickets. She reassured fans she is trying to figure out how to improve the situation moving forward. Swift’s team also released a statement saying there were 3.5 billion total system requests during the pre-sale, 4x their peak sales.
Have there been other major Ticketmaster outages?
Yes, Ticketmaster has experienced other major outages and technical issues over the years beyond the recent Taylor Swift onsale:
- 2011: Systems crash during a 50 Cent concert pre-sale.
- 2013: Outage during Paul McCartney ticket sales.
- 2014: Issues during Beyonce and Jay Z On The Run Tour ticket sales.
- 2016: Site goes down during Kanye West ticket sales.
- 2017: Problems during Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran ticket sales.
- 2018: Outage during Shawn Mendes ticket sales.
- 2019: Crash during Hootie & The Blowfish reunion tour sales.
So while the Taylor Swift debacle is arguably the most high-profile, Ticketmaster has long faced criticism for technical issues during peak sales periods. The ongoing shift to more online ticket sales has likely exacerbated the problems.
What is being done to prevent future issues?
In the wake of the Taylor Swift tour pre-sale fiasco, Ticketmaster has said it is working to improve its systems to better handle massive demand moving forward. However, specific changes or upgrades have not been revealed publicly.
Some possible improvements could include:
- Expanding server capacity
- Refocusing efforts on bot prevention
- Refining Verified Fan requirements and limits
- Introducing virtual waiting rooms during peak demand
- Enabling more staggered ticket release times
It’s unclear if any regulatory action will follow the incident – U.S. Congress did previously hold hearings after the Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen outages years ago.
Could this impact the Ticketmaster/LiveNation merger?
Possibly. Back in 2010, Ticketmaster and LiveNation merged into a massive entertainment giant responsible for a large chunk of major concert and ticket sales. The merger led to an unpopular, behemoth corporation with enormous market share.
After the latest Tickertmaster debacle, some politicians are calling for investigations into LiveNation and whether their 2010 merger violates antitrust laws. The botched Taylor Swift onsale could add fuel to arguments that the combined Ticketmaster/LiveNation business is anti-consumer and monopolistic.
How has public opinion responded?
As expected, public opinion on Ticketmaster is exceptionally negative following the Taylor Swift ticket sale disaster. Angry fans and consumers have taken to social media to blast Ticketmaster for their incompetence and lack of preparedness for such a major event.
A survey of 500 individuals found:
- 89% now have a negative perception of Ticketmaster
- 72% are unsatisfied with Ticketmaster’s response and communication
- 84% support investigations into Ticketmaster’s practices
- 91% believe Ticketmaster has an unfair advantage in the ticketing industry
Will this impact future ticket sales?
The Tickmaster crash will likely have wide-reaching impacts on the live events industry moving forward. Fans have even less trust in Ticketmaster, and there are louder calls than ever for more competition in ticket sales and distribution.
It also poses a challenge for major artists like Taylor Swift – how can they ensure fans have fair access to tickets without these technical meltdowns? Greater transparency and oversight of Ticketmaster may be needed from stars with the leverage to demand change.
The debacle also highlights the greater need to modernize ticketing systems to handle surges in online demand. If legacy systems continue crashing under high stress, both consumers and artists will push for new paradigms better equipped for modern sales.
Could blockchain technology help prevent crashes?
Perhaps. Blockchain technology and crypto-based systems are emerging as potential alternatives to traditional digital ticketing Infrastructure. By distributing ticket sales across a blockchain network, crashes due to surges in traffic could theoretically be avoided. Additionally, crypto ticks could help mitigate counterfeits and scalping through enhanced verification mechanisms built into each ticket token.
Major artists like Doja Cat, Snoop Dogg, and The Weeknd have started experimenting with blockchain ticketing to offer fans perks like collectible NFT ticket stubs or other benefits not possible with traditional barcodes. If the technology proves successful at averting meltdowns during high-demand sales, wider adoption across live events could follow.
Conclusion
The Ticketmaster crash during Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket sales represents a major flashpoint for the live events industry. It lays bare ongoing issues around online scalping, unfair consumer practices, and dated technical systems unequipped for today’s reality of massive online traffic. But just as crises force change, this debacle will likely trigger real analysis into modernizing ticket sales through blockchain, legislatively capping secondary resales, or finally injecting competition into a long-unbalanced market. If any fanbase can drive that change, it’s the passionate Swifties who kickstarted this reckoning.