Attending a concert can bring an indescribable feeling of excitement and contagious energy. When a band or a singer announces a world tour, their fans are immediately excited. This means that they can finally see their hero in person and sing along loudly with them. As soon as a tour is announced, I immediately find out how to sign up for presale. Only a select amount of tickets are released for presale and can only be accessed with a unique code. The problem is that most things are controlled by Ticketmaster which has become a big monopoly over the industry. On the day presale codes are sent out, everyone receives an email saying that they were either waitlisted or chosen for presale, and the unique code is given to them.
On the day that presales open, Ticketmaster likes to send out an email full of information that is supposed to be helpful. The first step is joining the waiting room early to secure a spot. I think this was an absurd idea because it does not matter when someone joins, they’re placed in the queue in a random order anyway. When the queue opens, I am given my spot in line. Moving through the queue can take minutes or hours, it all depends on the popularity of the event. When it’s finally my turn to select seats, I brace myself and wait for the site to refresh. This is when everything could come crashing down. In the past, I have either been suspected to be a bot or kicked out of line for no good reason. Ticketmaster just loves to kick out everyone besides all the bots and the scalpers. If I’m not kicked out, the website usually breaks on me.
Nowadays, every time I get the chance to buy tickets, the prices bring a tear to my eye. By the time I’m finally let in, most of the tickets are already sold out. If there’s any left, they’re hundreds of dollars. This is completely against the point of a presale. With Ticketmaster, they use a process called “dynamic pricing.” This means they can make ticket prices absolutely outrageous if the demand for an event is high enough. Do not even get me started on the added fees and charges.
I have tried to get tickets to three different shows recently. Every single one went wrong and proved why the concept of a presale is nonexistent now. The first was to see Lana Del Rey. As soon as I got in to select my seats, there was nothing left. It had sold out within minutes. Next came Olivia Rodrigo. Waiting in the queue went by quickly but when it was my turn to pick seats, the website broke. When I went back a second time, the prices were outrageous and it was selling out fast. Lastly was Noah Kahan. I was kicked out the first time because I was a suspected bot. The second time, I successfully got through. I tried to go for lawn seats, hit the checkout button, and the website broke yet again. I left all of those presales empty-handed.
Weeks later, hundreds of tickets are being resold for these concerts. The problem is that they are going for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Ticketing sites do not put a limit on how many tickets can be resold. The prices do not go down until the day of the concert because the scalpers are desperate to get rid of their tickets. News flash, no one wants to pay $800. After the infamous Eras Tour incident, Ticketmaster vowed to make changes so people would never have to experience that again. I call them a bunch of liars. Concert ticket prices have been increasing for years but The Eras Tour absolutely blew it out of proportion.
Concert tickets nowadays are impossible. People should not feel like they’re fighting in a war to try to secure tickets. They shouldn’t have to be millionaires in order to enjoy a concert. The point of a presale is to give fans the chance to buy tickets before the general public. With how recent presales have gone, the general public doesn’t even stand a chance. Buying tickets is supposed to be fun and exciting, not this frustrating. There are many things Ticketmaster could do to improve this experience, but it doesn’t seem like they are making an effort to do anything. At this rate, artists are going to start performing to empty venues because no one can afford to go.