Ticketmaster Has Started To Hike TF Out Of Ticket Prices And Its All Because Of Scalpers

If you haven't been buying concert tickets lately, you probably have been unaware of all the drama surrounding the new pricing system that Ticketmaster has started to implement. Though if you have been in the market for a concert ticket, say for possibly Taylor Swift's Reputation tour, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Why specifically Taylor's tour? It's because her worldwide stadium tour is one of the first major large-scale tours to be using what is being called a "Slow Ticket Model." What the model entails is higher ticket prices to slow down ticket buying for popular concerts. Of course, Taylor's would be the perfect opportunity to test out the method considering it's the most popular tour that's been released tickets this year.

The shift has something to do with the scalpers, but more to do with Ticketmaster wanting a piece of the profit that scalpers cash in on when they upsell tickets. The move is supposed to limit people from buying tickets and specifically target scalpers, hoping they won't mass purchase tickets to sell at a higher rate.

Though we aren't talking about ameasly $50 raise in ticket prices, Taylor's tickets have seen as big of a jump as $500 dollars more than her previous 1989 tour which had a significantly larger ticket demand. Meaning that fans are now paying in some circumstances, double the price to get the seat they want. What do the big wigs like Marc Geiger, WME's head of music have to say about that? "buy a cheaper ticket or don't go to the show."

So what's the difference between buying a ticket on StubHub that's been inflated to $800 versus buying a face value ticket from Ticketmaster for $800 with their new model? Ticketmaster gets that extra inflation money they were losing to scalpers before.

While Ticketmaster continues to claim that this is 'for the fans,' their VerifiedFan efforts specifically with Taylor's tour and "slow ticketing" are proving to be nothing but a cash grab targeting fans that just want to see a live show. Instead of having the fluctuating prices from scalpers that often drop from the insane prices they can reach on StubHub, now the ticket's face value stays at the peak inflated price scalpers have used in the past.

While the "Slow Ticketing Method" hasn't been used for any shows so far outside of Taylor's tour, it seems fans are already rejecting the insane inflation considering there are thousands of seats available. While Ticketmaster claims this was "their plan", nobody has ever heard of an artist or company that doesn't want a sold-out show.