Taylor Swift on-sale canceled because Ticketmaster still sucks

Update November 18 2:00 p.m. The feds have indeed opened an investigation of Ticketmaster due to TaylorGate, and Ms. Swiftie herself has commented on social media.

Hey Taylor Swift fans, how’s that ticketing process going so far for The Eras Tour? Because according to the reaction of fans, it seems like it’s been a disaster!

So thanks to a corporate monopoly that is incentivized for as few real fans to get as tickets as possible, because they actually make more money instead when brokers snap up all the good real estate so they can make even more on their resale, Ticketmaster has canceled the balance of sales for the upcoming tour.

And so ends one the most preposterous episodes in the history of ticketing. This is one that even got a prominent member of Congress saying Ticketmaster should be broken up and never, ever get back together. And she’s not the only one, because many members of Congress are known to have daughters and nieces and wives and sisters.

This could be a turning point for concert and sports fans, as Taylor’s probably the biggest shining example of Ticketmaster gone amok. They sign the venues to exclusive contracts (some of which they own directly), so if an artist wants to perform in that space, they only have one way to sell you a seats. The outrageous fees and complete failure of the technology involved be dammed.

We’ll see if anything comes of this, or if T-Swizzle herself gets involved as an advocate for her ticket-free hive. But it’s not a great look for a company that likely wants to stay out of the spotlight of regulators.