With Taylor Swift’s new album, Midnights, being released October 21, millions of fans believed that they would be able to get tickets to her upcoming summer concert at Gillette Stadium, either by pre-sale or regular sale. 

  After Swift’s record-breaking album release, high demand for tickets to her “Eras Tour” led to many problems regarding the Ticketmaster website. The only way to join the pre-sale list was to be a “verified fan,” as determined by Ticketmaster, or to be invited by Capital One to their pre-sale, which was only available to their cardholders. Many fans are now questioning how almost no tickets were available for the general sale. 

  While some tickets had been pre-allocated to radio stations and charity events, the math did not add up that pre-sale tickets made up the vast majority of sales. This caused questions and frustration to circulate about the way that tickets were put out. 

 “It really pisses me off that a lot of [fans] feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them,” Swift said in a statement released on her social media platforms.

  Sophomore Greta Hartung’s experience with Ticketmaster was different from many. 

  “My sister got six tickets for $100 each and they were fairly easy to get overall,” said Hartung. 

  Masco’s radio station advisor, Chris Fay, remembers many times when Ticketmaster had let fans and musicians down. 

 “This problem has been going [on] for a long time. I remember when Pearl Jam tried to take on Ticketmaster,” said Fay.

  Midnights has been one of Swift’s biggest albums, as she became the first artist to occupy all ten Billboard Hot 100 spots off the same album simultaneously, according to Billboard. Fans have been loving the music, despite their experiences with Ticketmaster. 

  Many people, such as senior Anna Halliaj, a fan of Swift, anticipated the situation and did not even attempt to get tickets due to TicketMaster’s track-record.

 “Ticketmaster knew the high demand for tickets and yet they were so unprepared that thousands of people were disappointed. People who wanted to get tickets as a gift or people who had dreamed of seeing her. Ticketmaster should have done better as a company to prevent what happened,” said Halliaj.

  “I love 'Midnights', but I skip ‘Labyrinth’ everytime; it took me a while to warm up to ‘Question’,” said Hartung. 

  While Fay is not typically a fan, the range of music presented on the album appealed to a wide audience.

  “ ‘Snow On The Beach’ is my favorite, but I did not appreciate the language used,” said Fay. The new album was also a deviation away from her family-friendly image and into a more modern style and lyrical discussion of more mature themes.

  Despite the scandals arising from the possible monopoly of Ticketmaster, fans like Hartung and Leonforte have stayed loyal to Swift. As Swift prepares to go on tour in 2023, she has set two tour dates in Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium featuring Phoebe Bridgers and Gayle for the 5/19 and 5/20.