It has been a year since Taylor Swift’s legions of fans, ecstatic at the artist’s return to the stage, blew up Ticketmaster’s platform. Swifties’ outrage over the debacle quickly led to Congressional hearings, lawsuits, and no end to the finger-pointing by various live event industry players. The failed on-sale of Taylor Swift tickets illuminated what fans have long known: the simple act of buying a ticket is a rigged, opaque and frustrating experience. There is virtually no transparency in the multibillion-dollar ticket market, and all industry players who have a hand in ticketing-related decisions share some of the fault for the mess that is today’s ticketing market. What became crystal clear after the Swift meltdown was that ticketing - and also the broader live events industry that includes tour promotion, artist management, and venues - is broken and in desperate need of clearer and fairer rules of the road that prioritize both fan protection and competition in the industry.
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