Taylor Swift shared the first single, ‘Look What You Made Me Do‘, from her new album Reputation last Friday and since then, a somewhat controversial collaboration with Ticketmaster has emerged.
After the online hubbub of fans questioning whether ‘Look What You Made Me Do‘ was firing shots at Kanye, Kim or anyone else who wronged the queen of pop had died down, the questionable ‘Taylor Swift Tix powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan‘ scheme emerged.
The collaboration with the ticket giant’s main goal is to get tickets into the hands of real, die hard swift fans as opposed to online bots and scammers. Using an algorithm to determine the fans from the frauds the online plan prompts the public to ensure a place in the virtual ticket line in the city of their choice in a “really fun way“. The idea is simple, preorder her album, buy other Taylor Swift merchandise, and spread the content online like a wildfire in order to secure your tickets.
The ticketing site has stated about the new plan: “Watch the latest music video, purchase the album (for the greatest boost), post photos and engage on social media. Check the Taylor Swift Tix portal for the newest boosts and activities you can do everyday.”
Once fans have pre-ordered the new LP they are informed that for a guarantee they will receive Reputation on its official release date they will have to pay another $48.03 – raising the cost of the CD to $63.03. It has been noted that this move appears to help out UPS, one of the singer’s many corporate partners. Those less wealthy fans, however, can receive a low-level boost and a worse chance at securing a place in the ticket line for simply watching the video for ‘Look What You Made Me Do‘.
Fans are advised that they can flood their social media channels with posts about the ‘Bad Blood‘ singer, and her new album, to gather up more low level boosts. This, in turn, gives the programme the right to assure the public that no one actually has to buy anything to join in on the “fun“. It’s clear this plan will best benefit stars wealthiest fans in the scramble for online ticket purchases. Watch the colourful and animated explanation video below.
So as it stands, it would appear that once you give Swift and her affiliates a lot of extra money, even becoming a freelance PR and publicity team for the singer, you could be one of the lucky fans who doesn’t purchase tickets but get yourself a better chance at doing so. It should also be noted that those taking part in the scheme are even able to purchase the new album, Reputation, up to 13 times, yes, 13 times.
