Ticketmaster says some Taylor Swift fans may be getting a second chance at securing tour tickets

New York
CNN
–

Millions of Taylor Swift fans infuriated They did not receive tickets for the artist’s latest tour after a widely scrutinized debacle over failed ticket sales. But ticketing giant Ticketmaster announced on Monday that a select group of fans might be able to pick up tickets after all.

The lucky group is among those fans who register as “Verified”. Notified Monday via email, they will receive their individual invitation to place an order before Dec. 23, according to a Ticketmaster post. Invitations will be arranged based on tour dates in different cities.

“You have been identified as a fan who received payment during the pre-show for verified fans but did not purchase tickets,” the email read. We apologize for the difficulties you may have encountered and have asked Team Taylor to provide you with this additional opportunity to purchase tickets.

Pre-sale tickets for the “Eras Tour” enthralled Swift fans across the country in a disaster which has been in the news headlines for weeks. In November, a pre-sale code was sent to “Verified Fans” — but when sales started, the site was in such high demand that millions of Swifties couldn’t get a ticket. Pre-sale tickets for Capital One cardholders brought similar frustration – Ticketmaster then canceled sales to the public, citing “unusually high demand” and “insufficient remaining ticket stock”.

Ticketmaster on Monday explained the process for getting second-chance tickets: Fans will receive a summary of the purchase process and an email after the order window closes. to let them know if their request Confirmed. Once a fan request is confirmed, their card will be charged and they will receive instructions on how to claim tickets.

While tickets are not Guaranteed, Ticketmaster said it will make every effort to provide verified fans with an additional option to obtain tickets if the exact price range requested by fans is not available.

Swift spoke earlier this month In a poignant post about ticket “mistakes”, Writing on Instagram that there are “so many reasons why people have such a difficult time” getting tickets, and said the experience was “painful” for her to watch.

In a since-deleted blog post, Ticketmaster said its “Verified Fans” system, a mechanism intended to eliminate bots by giving out pre-sale codes to individuals, could not keep up with the overwhelming demand. Nearly 3.5 million people signed up to buy Swift tickets, marking her “largest enrollment in history”. Ticketmaster said that this unprecedented demand, combined with a “staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn’t have invite codes” drove “unprecedented traffic” to its site, essentially breaking it.

Ticket Master Swift and her fans have apologized As for the “terrible experience,” some tried to buy tickets and said they would “support our technology for the new custom-made bar” of Swift’s tour.

The ticketing debacle has angered many lawmakers, including Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, who wrote an open letter to Ticketmaster’s CEO, saying she had “serious concerns” about the company’s operations.

And in a letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapinoe earlier this month, The House Energy and Commerce Committee demanded a briefing About what went wrong and the steps the company is taking to fix the issues.

In addition, the Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into Live Nation, a source told CNNTo determine if the company has a monopoly on the concert market, including the purchase of tickets.

Live Nation responded in a statement posted to its website, saying it “takes its responsibilities under antitrust laws very seriously” and “does not engage in conduct that could justify antitrust litigation, much less orders that would require a change in essential business practices.”

— CNN’s Frank Pallotta and Jordan Valensky contributed to this report.