Ticketmaster’s botched presale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour left fans disappointed when canceled because of, as the online ticketing giant said, “high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand,” which led to lawsuits.

The Eras Tour is Swift’s first major tour since 2018, which had fans rushing to get tickets. The rush, however, overwhelmed the site which led to glitches and long wait times. It was not only Swifties who were on its site, but also bots. Julian Mark from The Washington Post writes, “Bots are software tools that scalpers use to buy as many tickets as they can. Hope to make a profit on the resale market.”

The resale prices for tickets have risen exponentially. With some as high as $30,000. Fans have been scammed with fake tickets or ones which are overpriced based on seats and viewing. According to Axios, buyers and sellers have flocked to websites such as StubHub and Vivid Seats. 

The amount of bots that managed to get tickets has been seen as intentionally allowing scalpers to buy the majority of them for resale. After that happened, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, its parent company, are now being sued by a group of 26 Swift fans. The lawsuit states, “Ticketmaster intentionally provided codes when it could not satisfy demands.” It seeks $2,500 per violation, with the amount of people who tried getting tickets the complaint could turn into a hefty fine. 

Besides the lawsuits, the Department of Justice opened an antitrust investigation. The Guardian explains, “The investigation, which predates the Swift controversy, is looking into whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power in the multibillion-dollar live entertainment industry.”

People are now acknowledging Ticketmasters monopoly on the music industry because, as Laura Snapes wrote, “no other venue can hold half as many people as the stadiums and venues working through Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift and other popular musicians have no choice but to work through Ticketmaster.”