Angry Taylor Swift Fans Struggle to Snag Tour Tickets, Blame Ticketmaster – CNET [CNET]

“Ticketmaster is in fact not a sexy baby,” one fan says as the ticket site cites “historically unprecedented” demand.

Taylor Swift ticket sales weren’t too swift on Tuesday morning. Fans of the singer flooded Ticketmaster’s site on Tuesday to buy presale tickets to her 2023 Eras tour, and many of them were left frustrated and angry. Ticketmaster tweeted a statement that cited “historically unprecedented demand” for tickets, saying “millions” of people were attempting to buy them.

Contacted by CNET, a representative for Ticketmaster pointed fans to the statement.

The statement also says “hundreds of thousands” of tickets have been successfully sold and urged fans waiting in online queues to stay put. 

Timing changes

There’s been some shift in timing for the presale. West Coast presales for Seattle; Santa Clara, California; Los Angeles and Las Vegas were originally scheduled for 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday, but have been rescheduled for 3 p.m. PT instead, with those queues opening 30 minutes ahead. The Capital One sale, which requires a Capital One credit card, was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday but has been pushed back to 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday instead. Any presale codes and links should continue to work at the new time, Ticketmaster said.

Social media agony

Fans were irate.

“Ticketmaster is like, ‘We’re sorry about all the technical problems, this demand was unexpected,’ as if Taylor Swift isn’t one of the biggest artists in the galaxy,” one fan tweeted.

ticketmaster is like “we’re sorry about all the technical problems, this demand was unexpected” as if taylor swift isn’t one of the biggest artists in the galaxy

— jessica (@enchantedjess13) November 15, 2022

Not all fans weren’t buying Ticketmaster’s statement, either. 

“The demand literally can’t be unexpected because they’re the ones who sent out the presale codes lmao,” one wrote. “Like, y’all picked the demand yourselves.  Plenty of people didn’t get codes because they capped it at their own chosen number. I can’t.”

The demand literally can’t be unexpected because they’re the ones who sent out the presale codes lmao. Like y’all picked the demand yourselves. 😂 Plenty of people didn’t get codes because they capped it at their own chosen number. I can’t.

— Xandra Harbet (@XandraHarbet) November 15, 2022

Who’s the problem?

Many people played off Swift’s recent song, Anti-Hero, in which she sings, “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” blaming the problem on Ticketmaster.

Another person played off a different Anti-Hero lyric, writing, “Ticketmaster is in fact not a sexy baby.”

Ticketmaster is in fact not a sexy baby

— roselynn 💙✨ (@gldnlikedaylght) November 15, 2022

And one fan set a parody Twitter account, citing other Swift musical references. 

“It’s me! Hi! I’m the problem, it’s me!” the person wrote. “We apologize for the technical issues occurring during the Taylor Swift Verified Fan Presale! We hope you can Shake It Off because You’re On Your Own, Kid. (we will be fixing nothing)”

It’s me! Hi! I’m the problem its me!

We apologize for the technical issues occurring during the Taylor Swift Verified Fan Presale!

We hope you can Shake It Off because You’re On Your Own, Kid. (we will be fixing nothing) ✨

— Ticketmaster #TheErasTour (Parody) (@ticketmasterrr) November 15, 2022