Highlights
- Taylor Swift fans were forced to buy merchandise from the "Taylor Swift Official Store" to increase their chances of getting concert tickets through the Ticketmaster Verified Fan service.
- This system angered many fans who felt like they were being manipulated into spending more money just to have a chance to see Swift live.
- Despite the high ticket prices and the additional cost of the Ticketmaster Verified Fan service, many fans still eagerly paid to see Swift perform, resulting in sold-out shows.
When fans get the chance to see their favorite musicians in concert, that is the kind of experience they will never forget. As a result, fans who get to listen to an artist's music live often have goodwill towards that performer for months or even years.
Sadly, however, concert tours occasionally have the opposite effect when they leave fans feeling ripped off for reasons like ridiculously expensive tickets. Before Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster made people so mad that Congress got involved, they made fans upset by seemingly forcing them to buy merch to get the chance to see the singer in concert.
Did Taylor Swift Fans Have To Buy Her Merchandise To See Her Concert?
Throughout Taylor Swift's career, she has proven her ability to write songs that millions of people identify with. At the same time, Swift also somehow manages to make those same songs so catchy that people who barely pay attention to her lyrics still can't get them out of their minds.
As a result of those two aspects of Swift's songwriting, many of her fans care about her on a deeper level than any other artist. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that when Swift announces a concert tour, it is a huge understatement to say that the competition to get tickets is fierce.
Since there is so much demand for concert tickets, the prices to see Swift in concert have long been difficult for a lot of people to afford. Despite the rising prices of Swift's tickets, they still continue to sell out.
In the mid-2010s, someone came up with an idea about a new way to handle selling tickets to Swift's concerts. Suffice it to say, many of Swift's fans were very angry about this new system at the time.
When the new system for how to get Swift's concert tickets was announced, it was sold to fans as a way for them to "beat the bots". In theory, any plan that allowed real fans to get tickets instead of scalpers and bots seemed fantastic.
A service called the "Taylor Swift Tix powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan", allowed Swifties to complete "unique activities that advance your spot in line". At the time of this service's launch, the entire thing seemed to be set up to get more money from Swift's fans or their parents.
At first, there were three main activities that fans could complete to move up in line.
The first option for fans was to preorder Swift's upcoming album at that time, "Reputation". However, if fans made the mistake of preordering from the wrong outlet, their purchase wouldn't count since only some businesses had a deal in place to take part in the service.
For fans who wanted to preorder a digital copy of "Reputation", they had to go through iTunes. At the time, that was fairly reasonable as iTunes pretty much ruled the roost in terms of digital music sales.
On the other hand, there were many outlets where fans could buy physical copies of Swift's album including smaller music stores that really needed the business. Despite that, the only way to move up the line as a Ticketmaster Verified Fan from buying a physical copy of Swift's album was to buy it from Walmart or Target.
The second way fans could up their chances of getting the chance to get Swift's concert tickets at that time was to buy her merchandise. Again, if fans bought Swift's merch from a local business, that didn't count. The only way that fans made it more likely they would get tickets is if they bought merch from the online “Taylor Swift Official Store”.
According to reports, the more merchandise fans bought from the official store, the more likely it became they might get the chance to get tickets to one of Swift's concerts.
Finally, there was one more way for fans to advance in line, and it actually didn't cost them any money. At the time, fans could get credit for getting other people they know to sign up for the service.
According to the Toronto Star's article about the Ticketmaster Verified Fan service, it was unclear if the person who signed up had to buy something. That said, it seems likely that fans only got credit for referrals if they person they signed up actually spent money.
"Coercing as many friends as possible into doing the same for the vague privilege of jockeying 'up and down' for position in the queue for 'Taylor Swift tix'"
How Much Did Taylor Swift Concert Tickets Cost In 2017?
At the end of the day, the only reason that any Taylor Swift fans signed up for the Ticketmaster Verified Fan service is they hoped to see her perform. With that in mind, it is worth looking at how much the fans who made it to the top of the list would have to pay to actually get their tickets in 2017.
According to a digitalmusicnews.com article from 2017, if fans got the chance to buy a ticket, the cheapest ones cost just below $110. On the other end of the spectrum, the most expensive Reputation tour tickets cost more than $8,000.
When you add up the ticket prices and the money fans spent on the Ticketmaster Verified Fan service, seeing Swift live could cost a staggering amount. As amazing as that is, there is more to the story.
The thing about the Ticketmaster Verified Fan service is that it didn't actually ensure that people got a chance to buy tickets to see Swift live. Since Swift has so many fans who want to see her perform, lots of people signed up for the service.
By definition, that meant that a large portion of people who used the service and bought things to move up in line still were out of luck. No wonder industry watcher Bob Lefsetz publicly called the system out at the time.
“This is a naked dash for cash, an effort to sell albums so she can publicize how successful she is. It’s almost a Ponzi scheme, but in this case you buy stuff you don’t really want for a chance to get what you do want, tickets, but you can’t get. The longer this charade exists, the worse it’s gonna be for her.”
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