Ticketmaster apologizes to Taylor Swift fans for presale disaster amid Justice Department investigation

Ticketmaster has apologized to Taylor Swift and her fans after sales for her Eras tour went into chaos this week.

The events giant issued a statement Tuesday night after Swift shared her frustration with fans struggling to get tickets to the tour when the website repeatedly crashed.

“We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans – especially those who have had a horrific experience trying to purchase tickets. Next, we feel we all owe it to share some information to explain what happened,” Ticketmaster wrote in a statement.

It went on to outline the massive demand for tour tickets, saying its technical infrastructure was not prepared to handle it.

The statement came after the US Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster’s parent company, which will investigate whether Live Nation Entertainment abused its power in the live music industry.

According to a new report by The New York Timesthe investigation precedes the final fiasco.

For the past few months, members of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division have spoken to music venues and industry workers about Live Nation’s practices, amid requests for anonymity.

The Independent has reached out to Live Nation and the Department of Justice for comment.

Meanwhile, Swift addressed the Eras tour controversy in her own statement on Instagram on Friday.

After declaring that she is “protective” of her fans, Swift expressed her unease that so many of her fans have been affected by the ticketing issues.

“It’s really difficult for me to entrust those relationships and allegiances to an outside entity and it’s excruciating for me to just watch failures happen without recourse.”

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She continued: “I will not apologize to anyone because we have asked them several times if they can handle this type of demand and we have been assured that they could. It’s really amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really annoys me that many of them feel like they went through multiple bear attacks to get them.”

The “Anti-Hero” singer concluded her message by hoping there would be additional opportunities for fans to enjoy the music together.

“And to those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that I hope we have more opportunities to all get together and sing these songs,” she wrote. “Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means.”

Tickets for the North American leg of Swift’s 2023 tour were released via fan presale on Tuesday (November 15) following the release of her latest album. midnight, Last month. (You can read The Independent‘s five-star rating here.)

However, the event site Ticketmaster crashed for some hopeful supporters, and many took to social media to express their disappointment.

Shortly after the pre-sales started, tickets started popping up on resale sites for as much as $22,000 (£18,500).

The general pre-sale was originally supposed to take place on Friday (November 18), but was ultimately canceled due to “extraordinarily high demands on the ticket systems and insufficient remaining tickets”.

In 2010, the Justice Department approved a merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, creating the gargantuan powerhouse whose power has remained unrivaled in the entertainment business.

Before the start of the 2020 pandemic, Live Nation’s annual report showed it sold 485 million tickets for its 40,000 events worldwide in the past fiscal year.

Prior to the approved merger, the Justice Department entered into a 10-year settlement with Live Nation, which lasts until 2020, barring the company from denying venues access to their tours if those venues choose other ticket providers.

However, following an investigation in late 2019, the Justice Department found that Live Nation had repeatedly violated the settlement.

The settlement was then extended to 2025, with the agreement clarifying what the company was allowed to do when negotiating ticketing deals with venues.

A source who claimed knowledge of the matter told the outlet that members of the Department of Justice have questioned Live Nation whether or not the company is complying with the agreement.