Beyoncé is set to go on tour for the first time since 2016, a stint that will have the music icon traveling through the United States and Europe in the spring and summer of this year. The production named “The Renaissance World Tour” after her 2022 release and will feature both her new hits and classics from past albums.
It’s obvious that artists and fans alike always hope for a smooth ticket sales process, but with the demand for Beyoncé’s shows at an all-time high, buyers and sellers are still frazzled from the Ticketmaster fiasco in November. With Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” presale still at the forefront of the music lovers’ minds, it’s no wonder that both Beyoncé’s management and Ticketmaster are taking actions to avoid a similar disaster.
Prior to the company’s failure regarding Swift’s tour, Ticketmaster was the preferred choice for artists. Its systems were normally without error and handled the demand for even the most famed musicians. With most singers finally resuming their tours after the Covid-19 pandemic, the appeal for live shows has increased — a plus for both touring artists and concert lovers. However, the influence of social media platforms like TikTok has left Ticketmaster unable to manage the millions of people trying to access presale and general tickets online.
As for Swift, she has not toured since 2017. Within this six-year time span, she has released four albums, not including her re-recordings of past collections. Swift’s management and public relations team were aware that the demand for tickets would likely be higher than normal since “The Reputation Tour” was over half a decade ago.
Swift’s announcement sparked the largest turnout in Verified Fan registration history. There were over three million fans who signed up for presale within hours of “The Eras Tour” launch.
Countless fans were disappointed after hearing they were not chosen for the presale. Other Swifties encountered slow login processes and could not type in the code, which was provided in an email prior to the start of the event.
The company tried to clarify that if someone obtains a code, it does not necessarily guarantee a ticket to the concert.
Ticketmaster also attempted to filter out robots for the occasion. Unfortunately, this effort failed and resulted in a high number of bots receiving codes, which in turn lessened the chances for Swifties to buy tickets.
Swift responded with a jaw-dropping diss towards Ticketmaster and explained that it was “excruciating for [her] to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.” The critiques continued with fans suing Ticketmaster, and the Senate even investigated the chain of events.
Luckily, Beyoncé has the advantage of announcing her tour after the incident. The artist has given her fan club the opportunity to purchase tickets before the general public.
Beyoncé’s team has also incorporated groups based on city clusters, where she will be distributing tickets in three separate sales. While certain cities have been placed into clusters for higher accessibility, the amount of tickets does not sustain the number of fans who registered. This, however, was integrated in order to help distribute sales.
The expectation for Beyoncé’s shows has been similar to Swifts’, though. According to Ticketmaster’s official Twitter account, the demand for specific cities across the world surpassed 800%.
The music world will be watching Ticketmaster handle the influx of traffic on their website as the sales drop next week. It’s evident that the interest in the Queen Bey’s shows will challenge the company to evolve and prove their place in the concert business moving forward.
