Swift said in a statement of her own that she had been assured multiple times the company was prepared for the demand.
“It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse,” wrote Swift, who has been otherwise quiet about the issue (while her fans have been extremely vocal).
While company executives blamed bots, Ticketmaster’s critics say their issues with the company go far beyond what happened in November. Artists like Bad Bunny, BTS, Bruce Springsteen and Harry Styles have had issues with ticketing too, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told Morning Edition before the hearing last month.
At the hearing, lawmakers from both parties, smaller entertainment company executives and a musician spoke about how the lack of competition in the ticketing industry hurts artists as well as fans. They fear that will be the case as long as Live Nation remains both the dominant concert promoter and ticket platform in the U.S.
Beyoncé fans “have reason to be concerned,” says Daniel Avital, chief strategy officer for CHEQ — a cybersecurity company focused on protecting businesses from bots.
“If a scalping attack of these proportions occurred once on Ticketmaster, it is likely to occur again,” unless more robust security measures are put in place, he told NPR via email.
What to know if you’re looking for tickets
Ticketmaster seems to be running things a little bit differently this time.
It’s divided registration into three groups of cities (though it says people can register for multiple groups). Each has its own deadline to register for presale tickets, starting Thursday night and ending Feb. 16.