eras tour sale cancelled

Taylor Swift speaks out after Ticketmaster cancels her tour's general ticket sale: 'It pisses me off'

Taylor Swift is taking a strong stance for her fans after Ticketmaster announced it would cancel a scheduled general public ticket sale for her upcoming  Eras tour after "extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory." 

"Well. It goes without saying that I'm extremely protective of my fans," the pop star, 32, wrote in a statement on her Instagram story  Friday. "We've been doing this for decades together and over the years, I've brought so many elements of my career in house. I've done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans' experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do. 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." 

Previous story: Ticketmaster cancels general ticket sale for Taylor Swift tour after 'extraordinarily high demands'

Ticketmaster's announcement followed several days of turbulence for fans hoping to score tickets to the U.S. leg of the Eras tour, which is scheduled for 52 shows in 20 cities from March to August 2023.

Tuesday morning's verified fan presale, which only allowed in a select number of fans who registered in advance and received a presale code from Ticketmaster, saw major delays, errors and pauses in the queues to purchase tickets. The site was supposed to be open to 1.5 million verified fans, but 14 million users – including bots – hit the site, Live Nation Chairman Greg Maffei said in a Thursday interview with CNBC. Ticketmaster sold 2 million tickets on Tuesday, he added. 

As a result, the Capital One cardholders presale, which was scheduled to open that afternoon, was rescheduled to Wednesday and Ticketmaster announced Thursday that Friday's general ticket sale was off. 

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"There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I'm trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward," Swift continued in her statement. "I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them." 

Ticketmaster's cancellation didn't sit well with Swift fans who were not selected for the verified fan presale and had planned to buy their tickets via the general sale. Some tickets on third-party sites Thursday were going for tens of thousands of dollars.

The controversy even garnered attentions from politicians, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who expressed "serious concerns about the state of competition in the ticketing industry and its harmful impact on consumers"; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who tweeted "Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in"; and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, who said he is launching an anti-trust probe after consumer complaints related to the presale. 

While Swift didn't offer any concrete plans to add more shows to her tour schedule or welcome more fans into the existing stops, she did address "those who didn't get tickets" directly.

"All I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs," she concluded. "Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means." 

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Taylor Swift tour public ticket sale canceled due to 'extraordinarily high demands'

Ticketmaster has announced that the public ticket sale scheduled for Friday for Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" has been canceled due to an exceedingly high demand.

"Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled," Ticketmaster tweeted on Thursday afternoon.

The tickets went up for sale beginning Nov. 15, and the high demand caused the company's website to crash , with some fans waiting in line for hours to secure tickets. The company previously had fans pre-register as Verified Fans before the sale, and over 3.5 million fans pre-registered for Swift's program — the largest registration in Ticketmaster's history.

Below the tweet, Taylor Swift fans expressed their disappointment with the cancelation and uncertainty.

"So what happens to the tickets that were held aside for the general sale?? Are you just going to give them to scalpers at this point?" one user tweeted .

Another fan wrote , "Please tell me this means you’re going to offer round two to presale code and Capital One card holders instead of or in advance of a rescheduled general on sale. It would be so disappointing if you offload any remaining tickets to private groups or resell inventory yourselves."

Some fans even created a website to attempt to take action against Ticketmaster "through collective action."

In response to the chaos surrounding buying tickets for the tour, Ticketmaster previously issued an explainer about the situation.

"The Eras on sale made one thing clear: Taylor Swift is an unstoppable force and continues to set records," Ticketmaster  wrote in its explanation . "We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for the Eras Tour. We want to share some information to help explain what happened."

The company added that over 2 million tickets were sold for Swift's tour on Nov. 15, once again breaking records for Ticketmaster.

"Even when a high demand on sale goes flawlessly from a tech perspective, many fans are left empty-handed,” Ticketmaster said. "For example: based on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)… that’s a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years."

It remains unclear whether or not the general sale will be postponed or how many tickets remain after the pre-sale.

Laya Neelakandan is a reporter for CNBC.

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Look What Taylor Swift Fans Made Ticketmaster Do

Update, November 18, 2022: Nearly a day after Ticketmaster canceled the general sale for her Eras tour, Taylor Swift addressed fans’ issues with Ticketmaster. “It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets,” she wrote on her Instagram Story, “but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.” “We asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” Swift added without mentioning Ticketmaster by name. She wrote that she is “trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward” and assured ticketless fans that there will be “more opportunities” to see her live. However, Swift did not say whether there will be a general sale for the tour or if there are remaining tickets.

Original story follows.

Taylor Swift fans are about to be in their revenge era. On November 17, Ticketmaster canceled the planned general sale for Swift’s Eras Tour . The company made the announcement on Twitter , citing “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.” The news came less than 24 hours before tickets were set to go on sale to the public (10 a.m. ET on November 18) and after days of Ticketmaster criticism — beginning with the Verified Fan presale, on November 15, that had such massive demand that it led to Ticketmaster crashing and left millions of fans empty-handed. As a result, Ticketmaster delayed part of the Verified Fan presale and the following Capital One presale, which happened yesterday. It is unclear what the next steps for the tour will be. We have reached out to Swift’s representatives for comment and Ticketmaster for clarification on future general-sale plans.

Ticketmaster has claimed that demand for Swift’s tour was record-setting: More than 3.5 million people signed up for the Verified Fan presale, 1.5 million were given presale codes, and more than 2 million tickets sold on November 15 alone. Based on the company’s estimated demand, Swift would need to perform 900 stadium shows. (She is playing 52 shows, nearly double the amount she originally announced, on her first tour since 2018.) Ticketmaster said it had 3.5 billion system requests, quadruple its previous peak, and 15 percent of users experienced issues during the presale. After the presale failures, Ticketmaster said it was focused on improving service. “The biggest venues and artists turn to us because we have the leading ticketing technology in the world — that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, and clearly for Taylor’s on sale it wasn’t,” the company said .

As Swifties attacked Ticketmaster on social media over site delays, exorbitant dynamic pricing, and a lack of tickets, politicians turned their eyes to the ticketing giant and its parent company, Live Nation. Tennessee’s attorney general announced a consumer-protection and antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster and Live Nation yesterday, while Senator Amy Klobuchar sent a letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino requesting information on its business operations. “You said that you were ‘confident this plan will work,’” Klobuchar wrote , citing the 2009 hearing on the merger. “It appears that your confidence was misplaced.” Others in Congress, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have called Live Nation and Ticketmaster a monopoly and criticized the merger.

Swift’s tour is just the latest to have issues with Ticketmaster. Earlier this year, Bruce Springsteen and Blink-182 fans criticized the company’s online platform and dynamic pricing.

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Ticketmaster cancels its general sale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour because of 'extraordinarily high demands' and 'insufficient remaining ticket inventory'

• Ticketmaster just canceled the general sale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. 
• It said it was due to "extraordinarily high demands" and "insufficient remaining ticket inventory."
• Swift sold more than 2 million tickets to her first nationwide tour in four years on Tuesday alone. 

Ticketmaster has officially canceled the general ticket sale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour that was supposed to happen Friday. 

"Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled," Ticketmaster tweeted Thursday . 

Tickets for the highly anticipated tour went on sale on Tuesday for "Verified Fans," or people Ticketmaster randomly chose from an application pool to be selected for presale. 

In a statement shared on Ticketmaster's website , the company said Swift's tour sold over 2 million tickets during its verified-fan presale alone, more than any other artist in a single day. 

"Based on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)," the statement reads. "That's a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years."

Related stories

The later-that-day presale for Capital One cardholders was postponed until Wednesday after "unprecedented" demand for tickets nearly broke the website.

A few hours after that presale began, Ticketmaster posted an update that all presale inventory had been depleted.

Ticketmaster's statement did not clarify how it ran out of inventory ahead of the general sale, only that a "Verified Fan" presale has never before "sparked so much attention or uninvited volume" — implying that Swift fans who were not preselected to receive codes still tried to buy tickets, overwhelming the website's traffic capacity.

The Eras Tour was announced on the heels of Swift's record-breaking 10th album "Midnights," which smashed streaming records and sold more than 1 million copies in its first week .

It will be Swift's first nationwide tour since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. She was set to perform across Europe, Brazil, and the US in 2020 to promote her "Lover" album, but the festivals and concerts were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She has twice added more concert dates to the original Eras Tour schedule , bringing the total number of shows for the US leg up to 52 . International dates have yet to be announced.

The Eras Tour kicks off on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, and will visit many major cities across the US multiple times through August. 

A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. A representative for Ticketmaster responded by redirecting Insider to the statement on its website.

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Ticketmaster cancels its public sale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tickets

Ticketmaster says there was ‘extraordinarily high demands’ on its systems and that it doesn’t have enough tickets left to sell..

By Jay Peters , a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

Share this story

Ticketmaster is canceling the upcoming public sale of Taylor Swift tickets after the presale debacle earlier this week. Ticketmaster said it canceled the sale “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand” in a tweet Thursday afternoon .

Tuesday’s presale for Swift’s The Eras Tour was a disaster, with Ticketmaster crashing following “historically unprecedented demand.” Ticketmaster said millions came to the service to try and buy presale tickets.

The fallout was so bad that Ticketmaster had to delay the presale for shows in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Santa Clara, and Seattle to later in the day. The Capital One presale, which had been set to go live on Tuesday, was pushed an entire day.

Swift hasn’t been on tour since 2018, and the planned Lover Fest tour was canceled due to the pandemic, so fans who have been wanting to see Swift perform some of her newer albums live have been waiting for some time.

In a blog post, Ticketmaster elaborated further on what happened with the presale on Tuesday. More than 3.5 million people registered as a Verified Fan, “the largest registration” in Ticketmaster’s history, and around 1.5 were ultimately invited to be able to buy a ticket during the presale. But Ticketmaster says there were a “staggering” amount of bot attacks and many fans visiting who didn’t have invite codes. That resulted in 3.5 “total system requests,” which was four times Ticketmaster’s previous peak. Ticketmaster vaguely says that “about 15% of interactions across the site experienced issues” — it’s unclear exactly the company is counting as an “interaction.” (Ticketmaster regularly crashed for me on Tuesday, and I wasn’t even trying to buy a ticket.)

Ticketmaster says it sold more than 2 million tickets on November 15th to Swift’s concerts, and that every buyer was one with a Verified Fan code. “While it’s impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve the experience and that’s what we’re focused on,” Ticketmaster wrote. Ticketmaster hasn’t elaborated on if or when the public sale of tickets might happen in the future, and the company didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

• Taylor Swift crashed Ticketmaster following ‘historically unprecedented demand’ for tickets

Update November 17th, 4:49PM ET : Added a graph from Ticketmaster.

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Ticketmaster Cancels Taylor Swift Tour’s Public Tickets Sale Due to ‘High Demand’ and ‘Insufficient Inventory’

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Ticketmaster has canceled the public ticket on-sale for Taylor Swift ‘s “ The Eras Tour ” that was set to take place Friday, Nov. 18. The company cited both “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems” and “insufficient remaining ticket inventory” as the reasons it was pulling the plug on the general sale.

The company posted on social media: “Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ has been cancelled.”

Because of the Nov. 15 fiasco, the tour’s Capital One pre-sale originally scheduled for that day was delayed until Nov. 16. The general public sale was always set for Nov. 18 but has now been canceled.

A source close to the situation speculates that the tickets that were to go on sale Friday may end up going to people who experienced delays or problems earlier in the week, although that information is not confirmed. It remains unclear whether the general sale will be rescheduled.

Ticketmaster issued a lengthy explanation in the aftermath of the backlash, attempting to explain why its website crashed. The company said that “the staggering number of bot attacks” as well as fan demand “drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests — 4x our previous peak.”

“The Eras Tour” ended up breaking a Ticketmaster record as over two million tickets were sold on Nov. 15 for Swift’s shows, the most tickets ever sold for an artist in a single day.

Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled. — Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 17, 2022

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Ticketmaster Adds to the Chaos, Cancels General On-Sale for Taylor Swift’s the Eras Tour

• By Daniel Kreps

Daniel Kreps

Ticketmaster has dashed the hopes and ruined the Christmas of millions of Taylor Swift fans still hoping to get tickets to The Eras Tour with the announcement that tomorrow’s general on-sale has been canceled.

In a tweet on Thursday, Ticketmaster alerted fans that “Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled.”

Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled. — Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 17, 2022

Representatives for Live Nation and Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone ’s request for comment. It’s unclear what will happen to the remaining unsold tickets — if there are any, after the Verified Fans and Capitol One presales — or if the general on-sale will be rescheduled.

“Historically, working with Verified Fan invite codes has worked as we’ve been able to manage the volume coming into the site to shop for tickets,” Ticketmaster wrote. “However, this time the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn’t have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests – 4x our previous peak.”

The explanation also included the outrageous claim that, in order for Swift to adequately meet fan demand, “Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)…that’s a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years.”

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This all comes just hours after Live Nation Entertainment company chairman Greg Maffei tried to punt the blame for the Ticketmaster mess back on Swift. In an interview on Thursday, he claimed that the fault isn’t on Live Nation or Ticketmaster, but on the incomprehensible demand for tickets. The singer, he suggested, is simply too famous.

“The Live Nation team is sympathetic to the long wait times and fans who couldn’t get what they wanted,” Maffei told  CNBC . “Reality is it’s a function of the massive demand that Taylor Swift has. The site was supposed to be opened up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift Fans. We had 14 million people hit the site – including bots, another story, which are not supposed to be there. And despite all the challenges and the breakdowns, we did sell over 2 million tickets that day. We could have filled 900 stadiums.”

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Ticketmaster apologizes to Taylor Swift and fans for 'terrible experience' purchasing concert tickets

"We feel we owe it to everyone to share some information to explain what happened."

UPDATE: After Taylor Swift slammed Ticketmaster for the way it mishandled ticket sales for her upcoming Eras Tour , the company tweeted a mea culpa to Swift and her fanbase on Friday night.

"We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans — especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets," the company wrote. "We feel we owe it to everyone to share some information to explain what happened."

Ticketmaster linked to a statement that seems to be the same one the company originally shared (and then deleted) on Thursday. See the original statement below.

PREVIOUS: It's been a rough week for Swifties.

Fans hoping to snag tickets to Taylor Swift 's recently announced Eras tour during the general public sale scheduled for Friday will no longer be able to. Ticketmaster announced on Thursday that it had been canceled. The company wrote on social media, "Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled."

It's not clear yet if another date for general ticket sales will be set in the future.

The news caps off a disappointing week for a lot of fans. Tickets first went on pre-sale Tuesday for users who qualified for Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program, and within minutes people were complaining about site errors and long waits, with some fans being in a queue for more than five hours.

And, just hours after that sale started, Ticketmaster announced that buyers hoping for tickets to shows on the West Coast — Los Angeles, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Santa Clara, Calif. — wouldn't be able to start buying at 10 a.m. local venue time as planned, but instead would have to come back at 3 p.m. Additionally, the Capital One Cardholder Presale was rescheduled from Tuesday to Wednesday, and that sale only lasted a few hours before it sold out.

Ticketmaster issued a lengthy statement on Thursday attempting to explain the chaos, and revealing that Swift's tour broke a Ticketmaster record, with over two million tickets sold on Tuesday, the most ever sold for an artist in a single day.

In order to be a verified fan and take part in the presale, Ticketmaster had people pre-register in order "to help manage high demand shows — identifying real humans and weeding out bots. Keeping bots out of queues and avoiding overcrowding helps to make waits shorter and on sales smoother." The company says a record 3.5 million people pre-registered, and from there they sent access codes to 1.5 million, while everyone else was waitlisted.

"Historically, working with Verified Fan invite codes has worked as we've been able to manage the volume coming into the site to shop for tickets," Ticketmaster said. "However, this time the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn't have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests — 4x our previous peak."

Ticketmaster added, "It usually takes us about an hour to sell through a stadium show, but we slowed down some sales and pushed back others to stabilize the systems. The trade off was longer wait times in queue for some fans."

The company explained that based on the volume of traffic they received this week, Swift would need to perform over 900 stadium shows to meet that demand.

"While it's impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve the experience and that's what we're focused on," the company concluded.

All of this came after Swift added dates to her tour, not once, but twice. She plans to play a total of 52 dates as of now in the U.S., with international tour stops still to be announced.

A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

Related content:

• Why Taylor Swift's album Midnights wasn't nominated for the 2023 Grammys
• Taylor Swift unites Paramore, HAIM, Phoebe Bridgers, more for the Eras tour
• 30 Rock fans think Taylor Swift's new song 'Anti-Hero' features a funny reference to the show

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at  Entertainment Weekly  with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News,  Teen Vogue , Bustle, BuzzFeed,  Paper Magazine , Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022.

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Taylor Swift Responds To Ticketmaster Tech Woes And Canceling Sales For Her Tour: “Really Pisses Me Off” – Update

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UPDATED, 9:27 AM: Taylor Swift has responded to Ticketmaster ‘s announcement Thursday that it is cancelling the public ticket sale for her Eras Tour amid overwhelming demand that led to technical problems. “I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked [Ticketmaster], multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” she wrote on Instagram . Read details below.

Here is her full statement:

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“There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward.

“I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.

“And to those who didn’t get tickets, all I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs. Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means.”

PREVIOUSLY, November 17: After presales for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour crashed the Ticketmaster site on Wednesday, the company announced that tomorrow’s planned public on-sale window was being cancelled. It is unclear whether another public on-sale window will be announced for the tour or not, but given that the ticketing giant cited “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand,” that looks unlikely.

Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled. — Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 17, 2022

Within minutes of the 12 p.m. PT announcement, fans expressed disbelief that Ticketmaster continued to fail at its one key duty: To sell tickets. Especially given all the extra fees the company charges.

Ticketmaster will sell a $50 concert ticket and then tack on like $49.99 in additional unexplained fees but at least they're taking all that money and using it to build a completely non-functional ticket-selling system — Rodger Sherman (@rodger) November 17, 2022

and once again pic.twitter.com/OiYQCGQFdm — danie | 6 ♡ (@daniexdelicate) November 17, 2022

Others offered a modest proposal: Claw back all the tickets now for sale online by scalpers for “$11,000-$50,000” and use them to fill the general onsale demand from fans.

Unbelievable how badly @Ticketmaster fucked this up! How about canceling the $11,000-$50,000 tickets the scalpers are selling and open them back up to actual fans! I have tickets but I am so upset. How could you let this happen! #TaylorSwiftErasTour #TicketmasterIsOverParty https://t.co/My7sGAnj3R — Feelingtwentytwo (@NicoleH65796212) November 17, 2022

Overwhelming demand from the same fans who had rocketed 10 songs from Swift’s most recent release  Midnights  to the top 10  of the Billboard Hot 100 — a first-time feat in the chart’s history — is likely one of the contributing issues.

In response to Wednesday’s issues, Rep. Alexandra Oscasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter, “Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, it’s [sic] merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up.”

She weighed in again today shortly after Ticketmaster’s annoucnement.

Ticketmaster monopoly got you down? Take action with @MorePerfectUS ⬇️ https://t.co/ZXdAz7U0iN — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2022

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the chair of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, fired off a letter earlier today to Ticketmaster on Thursday amid concerns that the outages on its site for Taylor Swift concerts reflect a lack of competition in the business.

The  letter  to  Live Nation  Entertainment CEO  Michael Rapino saw Klobuchar writing that she had “serious concerns about the state of competition in the ticketing industry and its harmful impact on consumers. Reports about system failures, increasing fees, and complaints of conduct that violate the consent decree Ticketmaster is under suggest that Ticketmaster continues to abuse its market positions.”

Klobuchar has been a critic of the concert ticket market, and argued that Ticketmaster’s “power in the primary ticket market insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services. That can result in the types of dramatic service failures we saw this week, where consumers are the ones that pay the price.”

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal also weighed in on Wednesday.

Taylor Swift’s tour sale is a perfect example of how the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger harms consumers by creating a near-monopoly. I’ve long urged DOJ to investigate the state of competition in the ticketing industry. Consumers deserve better than this anti-hero behavior. — Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) November 16, 2022

A Ticketmaster spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media, the largest shareholder in Live Nation,  told CNBC  on Thursday that the overload was “a function of Taylor Swift. The site was supposed to open up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans. We had 14 million people hit the site, including bots, which are not supposed to be there.”

“Despite all the challenges and the breakdowns, we did sell over 2 million tickets that day,” reported Maffei. “We could’ve filled 900 stadiums.”

He added, “Though AOC may not like every element of our business, interestingly, AEG, our competitor, who is the promoter for Taylor Swift, chose to use us because, in reality, we are the largest and most effective ticket seller in the world.”

Jill Goldsmith contributed to this report.

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Why Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' General Sale Got Cancelled By Ticketmaster

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

If you weren't "the lucky one" to snag tickets during pre-sale for Taylor Swift's highly-anticipated "The Eras Tour," unfortunately your chances might be over. Ticketmaster has canceled the general sale for the popstar's 2023 stadium tour, which was scheduled to begin Friday. "Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled," the company tweeted.

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Heads Up, Ticketmaster Canceled Taylor's 'Eras Tour' Public Sale

No, but this is why we can’t have nice things.

Ticketmaster will no longer hold a general sale for tickets to Taylor Swift’s The Eras tour . This news comes just two days after the ticket vendor’s website appeared to crash on Nov. 15 following overwhelming demand for pre-sale tickets for Swift’s tour. As Ticketmaster announced in a Nov. 17 tweet, there just aren’t enough tickets left for her upcoming 52 shows.

“Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled,” Ticketmaster tweeted on Nov. 17.

Swift’s The Eras tour will be her first tour since her 2018 Reputation stadium tour . The “ Anti-Hero ” singer was meant to embark on her Lover Fest tour in 2020, but due to the pandemic, she had to cancel all of her shows. Since Swift has yet to perform any of her songs from her Lover , Folklore , Evermore , and Midnights albums, fans were so excited to hear her new tour promised to go through all of her eras throughout her career.

Pre-sale tickets for The Eras tour began on Tuesday, Nov. 15. According to Billboard , one way fans could access the pre-sale was by registering for Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Program . Those who purchased tickets for Swift’s canceled Lover Fest tour had priority access to the pre-sale. On top of that, fans could also join the pre-sale if they were CapitalOne cardholders .

Unfortunately, once Nov. 15 came around, Ticketmaster seemingly crashed due to so many fans wanting to purchase tickets. Less than an hour after the tour went on sale, Ticketmaster reportedly said in a tweet (which has since been deleted) that they were “aware” of the issues with the website and were “urgently working to resolve” them .

According to Variety , Swift sold two million tickets for The Eras tour on Nov. 15 , making her the first artist to ever do so. Now, just a day before the general sale for her tour was set to begin on Nov. 18, Ticketmaster has announced the public sale has been canceled.

Swift has yet to respond to Ticketmaster’s latest announcement.

Watch CBS News

Ticketmaster cancels Taylor Swift's Eras Tour public sale

November 17, 2022 / 3:57 PM EST / CNN

(CNN) -- Anyone looking to buy a ticket to Taylor Swift's new tour may be out of luck.

Ticketmaster said on Thursday that "due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand," tomorrow's public ticket sales for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour  have been canceled.

Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled. — Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 17, 2022

The sudden cancellation comes after Ticketmaster said Thursday that more than 2 million tickets were sold Tuesday for her upcoming tour — the most ever sold for an artist in a single day. It caused a near meltdown of its website .

In a blog post Thursday , Ticketmaster explained that a "record number of fans" wanted to buy tickets to Swift's Eras Tour, which begins next year. That prompted a massive slowdown in its platform and sparked outrage among her millions of fans who couldn't purchase tickets.

Ticketmaster basically said that its "Verified Fans" system, a mechanism aimed at eliminating bots that gives presale codes to individuals, couldn't keep up with the intense demand. Roughly 3.5 million people signed up for the program to buy Swift tickets, its "largest registration in history." That unprecedented demand, combined with a "staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn't have invite codes" drove "unprecedented traffic" to its site, Ticketmaster said, and, essentially, broke it.

"Never before has a Verified Fan on sale sparked so much attention -- or uninvited volume," Ticketmaster said in the blog post. "This disrupted the predictability and reliability that is the hallmark of our Verified Fan platform."

On Tuesday morning, Ticketmaster told CNN Business that the website was "not down" and that "people are actively purchasing tickets." It added that "there has been historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up" to buy tickets for Swift's tour.

The debacle not only stirred outrage among Swift's fans, but also caught the ire of politicians. Senator Amy Klobuchar criticized Ticketmaster in an open letter to its CEO, saying she has "serious concerns" about the company's operations.

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Ticketmaster cancels general ticket sales for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour due to 'insufficient remaining ticket inventory'

Ticketmaster has canceled Friday's general ticket sale for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour , citing "insufficient" inventory.

The company had announced earlier on Thursday that Swift's upcoming tour had broken several sales records earlier in the week as well as "parts of our website" during the Verified Fan presale period. General ticket sales were originally due to open Friday morning before being axed.

"Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory due to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled," Ticketmaster tweeted.

In its earlier announcement on Thursday, the company had responded to criticisms over its handling of the the Verified Fan presale, which opened on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Ticketmaster stated that it "knew this would be big," but said the presale ended up being bombarded with "bot attacks," which ultimately caused site outages and other technical issues for users.

MORE: Taylor Swift ticket demand crashes Ticketmaster website, presale times changed

"Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for Taylor's Verified Fan, which is the largest registration in history," the statement explained.

Of that number, Ticketmaster invited 1.5 million fans to take part in the Verified Fans pre-sale, but a "staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn't have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests -- 4x our previous peak."

"Never before has a Verified Fan on sale sparked so much attention," the statement continued. "Over 2 million tickets were sold for Taylor's shows on Nov. 15 -- the most tickets ever sold for an artist in a single day."

The company maintained that "every ticket was sold to a buyer with a Verified Fan code."

During the presale period, fans reported widespread outages and long wait times to purchase tickets, with some saying they waited for four hours or longer before ultimately giving up or logging off empty-handed.

As "Good Morning America" reported previously, some $60 nosebleed seats were reportedly being resold for $700, and one fan even claimed to have found a resale ticket priced at $33,750.

MORE: Taylor Swift in 'shambles' after making history as 1st artist to claim entire top 10 on Billboard Hot 100

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Ticketmaster vowed in its earlier statement on Thursday to use this as a lesson to "improve the experience."

"The biggest venues and artists turn to us because we have the leading ticketing technology in the world -- that doesn't mean it's perfect, and clearly for Taylor's on sale it wasn't," it added.

As for those upset fans who were left without tickets, Ticketmaster said the math wasn't on their side. "Based on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)… that's a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years," the company said.

This story has been updated to include Ticketmaster's announcement that it had canceled general ticket sales for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.

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Ticketmaster Abruptly Cancels Public Sale of Tickets for Taylor Swift's ‘Eras' Tour

Citing "high demands" and "insufficient remaining ticket inventory" for taylor swift's "the eras tour," ticketmaster announced on twitter that is has canceled friday's sale for the general public, published november 17, 2022 • updated on november 17, 2022 at 3:55 pm.

One day before tickets were set to become available to the general public, Ticketmaster abruptly canceled its public sale for Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour," following several issues with presale events and "historically unprecedented" demand.

Citing "high demands" and "insufficient remaining ticket inventory" the ticketing site announced on Twitter that is has canceled Friday's event.

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Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled. — Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 17, 2022

The news follows a series of problems for Swift fans who tried to purchase presale tickets earlier this week.

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Tuesday's presale event, one of several, left millions of fans waiting in queues for hours after Ticketmaster said it was experiencing "technical difficulties."

"Our team is working to resolve this as soon as possible," one update on Ticketmaster's website  read Tuesday. "We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience."

The company later released a statement saying the long wait times and disruptions stemmed from "historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up to buy tickets for the TaylorSwiftTix presale" but acknowledged on Thursday that bot attacks also played a role.

"Historically, working with Verified Fan invite codes has worked as we’ve been able to manage the volume coming into the site to shop for tickets. However, this time the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn’t have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests – 4x our previous peak," the company noted in a blog post Thursday. "Never before has a Verified Fan on sale sparked so much attention – or uninvited volume. This disrupted the predictability and reliability that is the hallmark of our Verified Fan platform."

It comes as no surprise then that some of those who secured tickets opted to put them on resale markets accompanied by lofty price tags, ranging anywhere from $500 to more than $12,000.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the cheapest resale ticket for Swift's June 2 Chicago show at Soldier Field -- the first of three shows in the city -- was being offered at $518 on StubHub after fees. This ticket would be in the 35th row of section 444, positioned in the upper deck almost directly to the side of the stage.

Including ticket fees on StubHub, there were just 17 listings under $1,000 for Swift's opening Chicago show, with the cheapest listing on the field at $1,121.

And while presale events for select shows continue into Thursday, the general public was not slated to have the opportunity to buy tickets at face value until Friday. But not anymore.

Swift's 52-date stadium visit is slated to run March 17 through Aug. 9 of 2023 throughout the U.S. and is expected to expand to international dates, as well.

The tour announcement followed Swift's release of her 10th album, “Midnights."

Tennessee AG Investigating Ticketmaster After Taylor Swift Ticket Chaos

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Ticketmaster Extends Presale Period for Taylor Swift ‘Eras' Tour to Deal With ‘Unprecedented Demand'

Dates for Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour" are below:

FRI, MAR 17, 2023 STATE FARM STADIUM Glendale, AZ with Paramore & GAYLE

SAT, MAR 18, 2023 STATE FARM STADIUM Glendale, AZ with Paramore & GAYLE

FRI, MAR 24, 2023 ALLEGIANT STADIUM Las Vegas, NV with beabadoobee & GAYLE

SAT, MAR 25, 2023 ALLEGIANT STADIUM Las Vegas, NV with beabadoobee & GAYLE

FRI, MAR 31, 2023 AT&T STADIUM Arlington, TX with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

SAT, APR 1, 2023 AT&T STADIUM Arlington, TX with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

SUN, APR 2, 2023 AT&T STADIUM Arlington, TX with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

THURS, APR 13, 2023 RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM Tampa, FL with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

FRI, APR 14, 2023 RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM Tampa, FL with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

SAT, APR 15, 2023 RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM Tampa, FL with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

FRI, APR 21, 2023 NRG STADIUM Houston, TX with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

SAT, APR 22, 2023 NRG STADIUM Houston, TX with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

FRI, APR 28, 2023 MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM Atlanta, GA with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

SAT, APR 29, 2023 MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM Atlanta, GA with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

SUN, APR 30, 2023 MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM Atlanta, GA with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams

FRI, MAY 5, 2023 NISSAN STADIUM Nashville, TN with Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams

SAT, MAY 6, 2023 NISSAN STADIUM Nashville, TN with Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE

SUN, MAY 7, 2023 NISSAN STADIUM Nashville, TN with Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams

FRI, MAY 12, 2023 LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD Philadelphia, PA with Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE

SAT, MAY 13, 2023 LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD Philadelphia, PA with Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE

SUN, MAY 14, 2023 LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD Philadelphia, PA with Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams

FRI, MAY 19, 2023 GILLETTE STADIUM Foxborough, MA with Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE

SAT, MAY 20, 2023 GILLETTE STADIUM Foxborough, MA with Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE

SUN, MAY 21, 2023 GILLETTE STADIUM Foxborough, MA with Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams

FRI, MAY 26, 2023 METLIFE STADIUM East Rutherford, NJ with Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE

SAT, MAY 27, 2023 METLIFE STADIUM East Rutherford, NJ with Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams

SUN, MAY 28, 2023 METLIFE STADIUM East Rutherford, NJ with Phoebe Bridgers & OWENN

FRI, JUN 2, 2023 SOLDIER FIELD Chicago, IL with girl in red & OWENN

SAT, JUN 3, 2023 SOLDIER FIELD Chicago, IL with girl in red & OWENN

SUN, JUN 4, 2023 SOLDIER FIELD Chicago, IL with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

FRI, JUN 9, 2023 FORD FIELD Detroit, MI with girl in red & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUN 10, 2023 FORD FIELD Detroit, MI with girl in red & OWENN

FRI, JUN 16, 2023 ACRISURE STADIUM Pittsburgh, PA with girl in red & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUN 17, 2023 ACRISURE STADIUM Pittsburgh, PA with girl in red & OWENN

FRI, JUN 23, 2023 U.S. BANK STADIUM Minneapolis, MN with girl in red & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUN 24, 2023 U.S. BANK STADIUM Minneapolis, MN with girl in red & OWENN

FRI, JUN 30, 2023 PAYCOR STADIUM Cincinnati, OH with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUL 1, 2023 PAYCOR STADIUM Cincinnati, OH with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

FRI, JUL 7, 2023 GEHA FIELD AT ARROWHEAD STADIUM Kansas City, MO with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUL 8, 2023 GEHA FIELD AT ARROWHEAD STADIUM Kansas City, MO with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

FRI, JUL 14, 2023 EMPOWER FIELD AT MILE HIGH Denver, CO with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUL 15, 2023 EMPOWER FIELD AT MILE HIGH Denver, CO with MUNA & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUL 22, 2023 LUMEN FIELD Seattle, WA with HAIM & Gracie Abrams

SUN, JUL 23, 2023 LUMEN FIELD Seattle, WA with HAIM & Gracie Abrams

FRI, JUL 28, 2023 LEVI’S® STADIUM Santa Clara, CA with HAIM & Gracie Abrams

SAT, JUL 29, 2023 LEVI’S® STADIUM Santa Clara, CA with HAIM & Gracie Abrams

THUR, AUG 3, 2023 SOFI STADIUM Los Angeles, CA with HAIM & Gracie Abrams

FRI, AUG 4, 2023 SOFI STADIUM Los Angeles, CA with HAIM & OWENN

SAT, AUG 5, 2023 SOFI STADIUM Los Angeles, CA with HAIM & GAYLE

TUE, AUG 8, 2023 SOFI STADIUM Los Angeles, CA with HAIM & Gracie Abrams

WED, AUG 9, 2023 SOFI STADIUM Los Angeles, CA with HAIM & GAYLE

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Taylor Swift's Eras Tour: A Timeline of the Ticketmaster Fiasco

From the presale chaos to the response from Swifties and lawmakers, here’s what to know about the debacle surrounding Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift’s latest tour

Karli Bendlin is the Director of Content Strategy at PEOPLE. She has over nine years of editorial experience covering entertainment, beauty, and lifestyle, and has been working at PEOPLE since 2022.

Taylor Swift fans are ushering in a new era for Ticketmaster.

The Midnights singer's loyal listeners have taken the company to task after the ticket-buying process for her upcoming Eras Tour resulted in chaos. In addition to a lawsuit filed by over two dozen fans against Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster's parent company, the Swifties are taking their complaints against Ticketmaster all the way to D.C.

The saga started back when Swift first announced she was going on tour following the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights . Given the success of Midnights , Swift's overall popularity and the fact that the singer-songwriter's previous tour had been canceled due to the pandemic, Eras was immediately projected to be the hottest ticket of the year.

When fans eagerly showed up to try and purchase tickets on Nov. 15, however, they were met with a litany of issues on the Ticketmaster website. Some potential ticket buyers were locked out of the sale when their Verified Fan codes failed to work, while others were initially able to secure tickets, only to lose them and get kicked out of the process once they tried to check out.

Ticketmaster later chalked the disaster up to "historically unprecedented demand," though Swift had some choice words for the company in her response, noting that she and her team had "asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could." The Grammy winner also wrote that the situation "really pisses me off" and that she was actively working on a solution for her fans.

From how the chaos ensued to the response it's provoking from lawmakers, here's everything to know about the debacle surrounding Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift 's Eras Tour.

Oct. 28, 2022: Taylor Swift says that a Midnights tour is coming

While appearing on The Graham Norton Show , the "Bejeweled" singer first teased an upcoming tour tied to the release of her latest album.

"We will sometime soonish. It's going to happen," Swift said when asked by the host, adding, "We will do it and it will be great."

Nov. 1, 2022: Taylor Swift officially announces the Eras Tour

A few days later, Swift confirmed she was going back on tour in 2023.

"I'm enchanted to announce my next tour: Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, a journey through the musical eras of my career (past and present!)," the Grammy winner wrote on social media.

She added, "The first leg of the tour will be in stadiums across the US, with international dates to be announced as soon as we can!"

Swift said that the Eras Tour would kick off on March 18, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, and conclude on Aug. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. She also shared the names of the performers who will be joining her onstage for her opening acts, including Paramore , Phoebe Bridgers and HAIM , before ending with a message to her fans: "I can't WAIT to see your gorgeous faces out there. It's been a long time coming 🥰."

Along with the tour announcement came information about how fans could score tickets. Hopeful concert attendees could register in advance through Ticketmaster's Verified Fan Program for a Nov. 15 presale, while Capital One cardholders could participate in another presale happening that same day. A general sale was then planned for Nov. 18 for fans who didn't receive a Verified Fan code or have a Capital One card. Per the release, ticket prices ranged from $49 to $449, with VIP packages going for $199 up to $899.

Nov. 4, 2022: Taylor Swift adds 8 new dates to the Eras Tour

Shortly after announcing the Eras Tour, Swift added eight new dates to the highly anticipated event. "UM. Looks like I'll get to see more of your beautiful faces than previously expected… we're adding 8 shows to the tour," the singer wrote on Twitter.

Nov. 9, 2022: Registration ends for Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program

Fans had until Nov. 9 to register for the Eras presale through Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program. The company later said that over 3.5 million users pre-registered for the sale, making it the largest registration in Ticketmaster history. Presale codes were then sent out to 1.5 million potential ticket buyers, while the remaining 2 million people were put on a waitlist.

Nov. 11, 2022: Taylor Swift announces an additional 17 dates

Even before ticket sales kicked off, the demand for Swift's upcoming tour was high — so much so that the Midnights singer added an additional 17 performances , bringing the total to 52 shows. The extra dates officially made Eras her biggest tour to date.

Nov. 15, 2022: Ticketmaster's Verified Fan sale starts

Tickets for the Era tour were first available to purchase on Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. local venue time for the lucky 1.5 million fans who received Verified Fan codes. However, the sale quickly descended into chaos as fans began reporting site crashes, extremely long waits and other technical glitches.

Potential ticket buyers shared their frustrations on social media, comparing their experience to The Hunger Games and calling on Ticketmaster and Swift to address the debacle.

Politicians even got involved, with House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeting that Ticketmaster has become a "monopoly" after its merger with Live Nation and that "they need to be reigned in."

A few hours after the sale's planned start time, Ticketmaster tweeted that the issues were due to "historically unprecedented demand" and announced it was pushing back the start times for some West Coast venues. The Capital One presale was also rescheduled for the following day.

Nov. 17, 2022: Ticketmaster cancels general sale after "extraordinarily high demands"

Fans who weren't able to secure tickets during the Verified Fan or Capital One presales were shocked when Ticketmaster announced that the general sale planned for Friday, Nov. 18 was officially canceled .

"Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled," read a tweet posted to the official Ticketmaster account.

Earlier that morning, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei (Liberty owns part of Live Nation, of which Ticketmaster is a subsidiary), had blamed the situation on the "massive demand" for Swift tickets during an interview with CNBC .

"The site was supposed to be opened up for 1.5 million verified Taylor Swift fans," he said. "We had 14 million people hit the site — including bots, another story, which are not supposed to be there — and despite all the challenges and the breakdowns, we did sell over 2 million tickets that day."

Nov. 18, 2022: Taylor Swift speaks out: "it really pisses me off "

On Nov. 18, Swift spoke out about the fiasco in a message to her fans via her Instagram Story.

"Well. It goes without saying that I'm extremely protective of my fans. We've been doing this for decades together and over the years, I've brought so many elements of my career in house. I've done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans' experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do," she wrote. "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."

The singer added that she was investigating why the situation unfolded the way it did and how it could be improved in the future. "I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them felt like they had to go through several bear attacks to get them."

Swift concluded her note with a sign-off to her fans who weren't able to get tickets: "All I can say is that my hope is to provide more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs. Thank you for wanting to be there. You have no idea how much that means."

Nov. 18, 2022: Ticketmaster apologizes to Taylor Swift fans and blames issues on high demand and "bot attacks"

On the day the canceled general ticket sale was supposed to occur, Ticketmaster issued an apology to Swift fans along with a lengthy explanation about what went wrong during the presale.

"We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn't been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour," Ticketmaster began in the statement. "First, we want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans — especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets."

Ticketmaster then explained their Verified Fan process, which is tasked with "identifying real humans and weeding out bots." The company noted that although they only gave out 1.5 million presale codes, the site was overwhelmed on the day of the sale due to fans who showed up without a code and a "staggering number of bot attacks."

While they estimated that only 15% of users experienced issues, Ticketmaster recognized "that's 15% too many, including passcode validation errors that caused fans to lose tickets they had carted." Despite the disruptions, the statement explained, the Nov. 15 sale broke the Ticketmaster record for most tickets sold for an artist in a single day, selling over 2 million tickets.

In total, the company explained, 2.4 million tickets were sold across the Verified Fan and Capital One sales on both Ticketmaster and SeatGeek. Additionally, less than 5% of tickets had been sold or posted on the secondary market.

The statement wrapped up by saying Ticketmaster is working on improving its technology for future sales, before offering some perspective on the scope of the demand for Era tickets.

"Even when a high demand onsale goes flawlessly from a tech perspective, many fans are left empty handed. For example: based on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)…that's a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years. While it's impossible for everyone to get tickets to these shows, we know we can do more to improve the experience and that's what we're focused on," it concluded.

Nov. 18, 2022: The Justice Department reportedly opens an investigation into Ticketmaster's parent company

The New York Times reported that the Justice Department was looking into whether Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company for Ticketmaster, has abused its power in the music industry. And while the inquiry is said to predate the Eras tour disaster, the situation further exacerbated complaints from fans, musicians and politicians alike.

In response to the report, Live Nation issued a statement on its website, saying that it "takes its responsibilities under the antitrust laws seriously and does not engage in behaviors that could justify antitrust litigation."

Nov. 22, 2022: Congress announces an antitrust hearing after Eras Tour fiasco

Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee announced that a U.S. Senate antitrust panel will hold a hearing "to examine the lack of competition in the ticketing industry."

"Last week, the competition problem in ticketing markets was made painfully obvious when Ticketmaster's website failed hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to purchase concert tickets," said Klobuchar in a statement, citing how the "high fees, site disruptions and cancellations" customers were faced with showed that Ticketmaster "does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve."

She continued, "That's why we will hold a hearing on how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industry harms customers and artists alike. When there is no competition to incentivize better services and fair prices, we all suffer the consequences."

Dec. 5, 2022: Taylor Swift fans sue Ticketmaster's parent company

In response to the presale fiasco, more than two dozen Swifties teamed up and filed a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment.

According to documents obtained by Deadline , Live Nation Entertainment is being accused of violating the state's Cartwright Act and Unfair Competition Law, fraud, misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement.

The documents cited the "disaster" that occurred on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, along with the "cancellation of general sale tickets scheduled for Nov. 18," alleging that Ticketmaster "has effectuated this anticompetitive scheme by forcing fans of musicians to exclusively use Ticketmaster for presale and sales prices, which are above what a competitive market price would be."

The plaintiffs, who are seeking a penalty of $2,500 against the company for every violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200, additionally claimed that Ticketmaster "intentionally and purposefully mislead ticket purchasers" by permitting "scalpers and bots" to access the presale. The suit also alleged that Ticketmaster provided more codes than ticket allotment and scheduled the general ticket sale "knowing they would not have the quantity necessary" to fulfill the demand.

Dec. 12, 2022: Select Taylor Swift fans get a second chance at purchasing Eras tickets

At last, some good news for Swifties came on Dec. 12, when select fans received emails notifying them that they would get a second chance to purchase Eras tickets.

"Congratulations, you have been selected to participate in a limited-time opportunity to request to purchase 2 tickets to Taylor Swift The Eras Tour," the note read, per Billboard .

"You were selected for this opportunity because you have been identified as a fan who received a boost during the Verified Fan presale but did not purchase tickets," it continued. "We apologized for the difficulties you may have experienced, and have been asked by Taylor's team to create this additional opportunity for you to purchase tickets."

According to a Ticketmaster release , fans who received the email will receive a separate invitation where they can submit a purchase request to Ticketmaster by Dec. 23. Invites will also be staggered by tour dates in each city.

Dec. 15, 2022: Ticketmaster reportedly has 170,000 remaining tickets to Eras Tour

According to Billboard , Ticketmaster still has 170,000 remaining tickets for the Eras tour — and the company is gearing up to sell them to the lucky fans who previously received emails in the next four weeks.

The outlet reported that Ticketmaster will use Ticketstoday — a ticketing platform first made in the early '00s for the Dave Matthews Band's fan club — to sell the tickets, with the hope that the platform will help them avoid crashes or long wait times.

January 18, 2023: The senate sets a date for Ticketmaster hearing

U.S. Senators announced a date for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry. The hearing will be held at 10:00 am on Jan. 24, 2023, reports Variety .

In a statement, Senator Amy Klobuchar said, "The issues within America's ticketing industry were made painfully obvious when Ticketmaster's website failed hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to purchase tickets for Taylor Swift 's new tour, but these problems are not new. For too long, consumers have faced high fees, long waits, and website failures, and Ticketmaster's dominant market position means the company faces inadequate pressure to innovate and improve."

She added that, at the hearing, "We will examine how consolidation in the live entertainment and ticketing industries harms customers and artists alike. Without competition to incentivize better services and fair prices, we all suffer the consequences."

January 24, 2023: Senators quote Taylor Swift's lyrics during arguments at Ticketmaster hearing

Several members of the Senate Judiciary Committee utilized Swift's lyrics to make their arguments .

Early in the hearing, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee quoted "Blank Space," when he referred to the idea of limits on ticket transfers as a "nightmare dressed like a daydream."

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar opened her remarks with an "All Too Well" reference. Then, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked Live Nation's president Joe Berchtold to look in the mirror and say: "I'm the problem, it's me."

March 17, 2023: Taylor Swift hints at Ticketmaster fiasco during opening night of the Eras Tour

Swift kicked off her tour in Glendale, California. At the start of the show, the songstress addressed the sold-out crowd — and subtly hinted at the Ticketmaster debacle.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that if you're here tonight, there's a pretty good chance that you went to a considerable amount of effort to be with us tonight," she said. "Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for wanting to be with us on night one."

March 27, 2023: Taylor Swift fans have their first day in court

Swift fans finally got their day in court. Roughly 10 of the 340 plaintiffs in the Live Nation lawsuit showed up for the hearing in L.A. — an opportunity to recount their Ticketmaster experience for the court record. The Live Nation attorneys attended the proceedings virtually.

While the Swift fans are still seeking $2,500 in damages each, plaintiff Penny Harrison told CNN that the lawsuit "has nothing to do with the money."

"It has everything to do with TicketMaster is the only venue in town. It's the only place to get tickets," she said. "The hope is that in 10 years from now that they'll look back and say this was the turning point. This was when competition branched out and ticket prices came down."

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How To Get Taylor Swift Tickets In 2024

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If you’ve finished your second—or fourth—rewatch of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) on Disney+ and are ready to see the talented singer-songwriter live, we’ve compiled everything we know about how to get Taylor Swift tickets this year. Her Eras tour starts back up this May in Europe, then moves to the United States in October and finishes in Canada this November. Swift’s 15th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department , came out on April 19 (you can order it now ). That means it’s likely she’ll include songs from that record on her tour as well as hits from 2022’s Midnights .

Taylor Swift returns to the stage on her "Eras" tour from May through the end of the year. Here's ... [+] how to get Taylor Swift tickets now.

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For many people, Ticketmaster might be the first stop for getting Taylor Swift tickets, since the artist links out to this platform from her official website . Unfortunately, many of the Eras tour shows are already sold out on Ticketmaster, including concert dates in the United States (Miami, New Orleans and Indianapolis). But don’t be discouraged—we’ve rounded up some other ways to get Eras tour tickets.

• If you’re looking for tickets to one of her shows in Miami, New Orleans or Indianapolis, StubHub has tickets, but they’re pricey. Tickets start around $1,600 and go up to $8,300 for these locations. For the Canadian performances, StubHub tickets start at $965 U.S. dollars and go up to more than $10,000. Shows in Europe are more affordable, starting around $250.
• For some of the European shows, StubHub may redirect you to StubHub International , where the currency is in British pounds, euros, Polish złoty or Swedish krona. You might want to check out a currency converter before purchasing tickets to see how much you’ll pay in American dollars.
• SeatGeek has tickets available for Swift’s United States and Canada shows, with prices starting at $1,000.
• Vivid Seats has similar pricing to SeatGeek, with tickets starting at $1,000 in the U.S. and Canada. For her European shows, prices begin a little under $400.
• Swift’s three shows in Dublin, Ireland (taking place from June 28 to 30) aren’t available on Ticketmaster, StubHub or SeatGeek, but they are ready for purchase on TicketNetwork . Prices start around $350.
• Taylor Swift’s website also links out to AEG Presents , which takes users to AXS for several of her European shows. Unfortunately, many tickets are sold out on that reseller platform.

When Do Taylor Swift Tickets Go On Sale?

Tickets are already on sale for the 2024 Eras tour dates in North America and Europe, and are selling out fast. If you want to see Taylor Swift live this year, your best bet is to buy as soon as you find a location, date and price that works for you.

How Much Are Taylor Swift Tickets?

Make no mistake: Taylor Swift tickets aren’t cheap. You may find some good deals depending on the venue and how close to the stage you are, but almost any Swift tickets going to set you back anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Her European show prices are vastly different from her North American ones, starting around $250. In all cases, though, don’t forget that these list prices will also come with ticket reseller fees added to the final price.

Taylor Swift 2024 Tour Dates

Taylor Swift is playing at multiple venues across Europe, the United States and Canada through the end of the year. She is typically performing at each location anywhere from two to five nights before moving onto the next stop. There’s one notable exception: She’s appearing for just a single show in Cardiff, United Kingdom.

• May 9 (with Paramore) : Paris, France at Paris La Défense Arena
• May 10 (with Paramore) : Paris, France at Paris La Défense Arena
• May 11 (with Paramore) : Paris, France at Paris La Défense Arena
• May 12 (with Paramore) : Paris, France at Paris La Défense Arena
• May 17 (with Paramore) : Stockholm, Sweden at Friends Arena
• May 18 (with Paramore) : Stockholm, Sweden at Friends Arena
• May 19 (with Paramore) : Stockholm, Sweden at Friends Arena
• May 24 (with Paramore) : Lisbon, Portugal at Estádio da Luz
• May 25 (with Paramore) : Lisbon, Portugal at Estádio da Luz
• May 29 (with Paramore) : Madrid, Spain at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
• May 30 (with Paramore) : Madrid, Spain at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
• June 2 (with Paramore) : Lyon, France at Groupama Stadium
• June 3 (with Paramore) : Lyon, France at Groupama Stadium
• June 7 (with Paramore) : Edinburgh, United Kingdom at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
• June 8 (with Paramore) : Edinburgh, United Kingdom at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
• June 9 (with Paramore) : Edinburgh, United Kingdom at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
• June 13 (with Paramore) : Liverpool, United Kingdom at Anfield Stadium
• June 14 (with Paramore) : Liverpool, United Kingdom at Anfield Stadium
• June 15 (with Paramore) : Liverpool, United Kingdom at Anfield Stadium
• June 18 (with Paramore) : Cardiff, United Kingdom at Principality Stadium
• June 21 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• June 22 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• June 23 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• June 28 (with Paramore) : Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium
• June 29 (with Paramore) : Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium
• June 30 (with Paramore) : Dublin, Ireland at Aviva Stadium
• July 4 (with Paramore) : Amsterdam, Netherlands at Johan Cruijff Arena
• July 5 (with Paramore) : Amsterdam, Netherlands at Johan Cruijff Arena
• July 6 (with Paramore) : Amsterdam, Netherlands at Johan Cruijff Arena
• July 9 (with Paramore) : Zürich, Switzerland at Stadion Letzigrund
• July 10 (with Paramore) : Zürich, Switzerland at Stadion Letzigrund
• July 13 (with Paramore) : Milan, Italy at San Siro Stadium
• July 14 (with Paramore) : Milan, Italy at San Siro Stadium
• July 17 (with Paramore) : Gelsenkirchen, Germany at VELTINS-Arena
• July 18 (with Paramore) : Gelsenkirchen, Germany at VELTINS-Arena
• July 19 (with Paramore) : Gelsenkirchen, Germany at VELTINS-Arena
• July 23 (with Paramore) : Hamburg, Germany at Volksparkstadion
• July 24 (with Paramore) : Hamburg, Germany at Volksparkstadion
• July 27 (with Paramore) : Munich, Germany at Olympiastadion
• July 28 (with Paramore) : Munich, Germany at Olympiastadion
• August 1 (with Paramore) : Warsaw, Poland at PGE Narodowy
• August 2 (with Paramore) : Warsaw, Poland at PGE Narodowy
• August 3 (with Paramore) : Warsaw, Poland at PGE Narodowy
• August 8 (with Paramore) : Vienna, Austria at Ernst-Happel-Stadion
• August 9 (with Paramore) : Vienna, Austria at Ernst-Happel-Stadion
• August 10 (with Paramore) : Vienna, Austria at Ernst-Happel-Stadion
• August 15 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• August 16 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• August 17 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• August 19 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• August 20 (with Paramore) : London, United Kingdom at Wembley Stadium
• October 18 (with Gracie Abrams) : Miami, Florida at Hard Rock Stadium
• October 19 (with Gracie Abrams) : Miami, Florida at Hard Rock Stadium
• October 20 (with Gracie Abrams) : Miami, Florida at Hard Rock Stadium
• October 25 (with Gracie Abrams) : New Orleans, Louisiana at Caesars Superdome
• October 26 (with Gracie Abrams) : New Orleans, Louisiana at Caesars Superdome
• October 27 (with Gracie Abrams) : New Orleans, Louisiana at Caesars Superdome
• November 1 (with Gracie Abrams) : Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium
• November 2 (with Gracie Abrams) : Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium
• November 3 (with Gracie Abrams) : Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium
• November 14 (with Gracie Abrams) : Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Centre
• November 15 (with Gracie Abrams) : Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Centre
• November 16 (with Gracie Abrams) : Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Centre
• November 21 (with Gracie Abrams) : Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Centre
• November 22 (with Gracie Abrams) : Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Centre
• November 23 (with Gracie Abrams) : Toronto, Ontario at Rogers Centre
• December 6 (with Gracie Abrams) : Vancouver, British Columbia at BC Place
• December 7 (with Gracie Abrams) : Vancouver, British Columbia at BC Place
• December 8 (with Gracie Abrams) : Vancouver, British Columbia at BC Place

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Eras Tour tips: How to avoid scammers when buying Taylor Swift tickets

Taylor Swift fans longing to see the Eras Tour in Europe or North America should beware of scammers getting creative to lure them into spending hundreds and thousands on fake tickets. 

“Any large influx of people, money and attention to one area will be a lightning rod for attackers,” says Dr. Andrew Reeves, a psychologist and researcher for the University of Adelaide in Australia. Reeves studied scams during the first year of the Eras Tour. He looks for ways scammers leverage human vulnerabilities to launch their attacks.

“We expected that attackers would be sending phishing emails saying that there’s tickets on sale or maybe there’s a problem with your tickets and click here to resolve,” he says. “But the most common was they were masquerading as your friends or hacking into people’s accounts that you know on social media and saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got a ticket to the Eras Tour and I can’t go anymore.’”

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That exact scenario happened to Nikki Duplessis right after Christmas in Merthyr Tydfil, United Kingdom. She wanted to take her sister to the concert.

“Taylor has helped us work through the trauma of losing our mum,” she said.

A friend tagged Duplessis in the comments section of a mutual friend’s Facebook post selling three tickets to the Liverpool, England, show on June 14 for £188 ($233) each. 

“The person messaged me on Facebook Messenger, and I sent the money,” Duplessis said, showing screenshots of the exchange. “And then I was blocked. The account had been hacked.”

Duplessis reported the transaction to her bank but was unable to get her £564 ($699) back. She still doesn’t have tickets to the show.

“There is one element that is specific to Taylor and plays perfectly into an attacker’s playbook, which is attackers love to make people scared and think quickly,” Reeves said. “They want people to act impulsively and not think, ‘Should I do this?’”

'Disruptors and soul deconstructors'

Dazen Vrilla counted days and counted miles to see Swift perform in Singapore. The Indonesian journalist tried to get tickets when they were released on Ticketmaster but had no luck securing seats to the only concert stop in Southeast Asia .

“I turned 30 in December and I told my best friend that I don’t care what you do, I want a ticket to Taylor Swift for my birthday,” she said over WhatsApp. 

Her best friend had a friend, Shania Sisilia, with an extra ticket purchased from a third party. Vrilla and Sisilia met months before the Singaporean concert at the Eras Tour movie.

“I trusted her because my friend introduced me to her and I trusted him,” Vrilla said. The two ventured to Singapore and met at the Changi Airport, recording videos of their journey to National Stadium.

Vrilla was afraid to think about the possibility the tickets weren’t real. Sisilia purchased the tickets for five million Indonesian Rupiah (about $315) each and had them transferred to her Apple Wallet.

The two walked up to the stadium in their sparkly outfits.

“It was the moment of truth, and I thought, ‘Oh God, please don’t fail me, please don’t fail me,” Vrilla said. The light that would flash green if the tickets were legitimate did not.

Sisilia broke down in tears. As they figured out what to do next, they witnessed many others get turned away including Americans who flew 10,000 miles with false tickets.

“We noticed maybe about 50 people get turned away at our gate,” Vrilla says. “I think the reason many people got scammed is most of the Singapore audience came from overseas.”

Heartbroken, Vrilla and Sisilia “Taylorgated" with other fans outside of the stadium, dancing and singing to Swift’s voice. Vrilla posted a video on Instagram of the scam that went viral, and the Swifties of Indonesia came to the rescue.

“I got a WhatsApp link sent to me,” Vrilla said. “There was an entire group of people going to the concert, and after they heard my situation, they found both of us tickets on April 7. We paid face value.”

Vrilla got a VIP seat on the floor for $1,200, and because she’s an investigative reporter, she tracked down the scammer and got her money back.

“It’s the greatest concert I’ve ever been to,” she said. “I know it doesn’t happen for everyone, but it worked out.”

Tips to avoid scams

• The No. 1 tip is to always book and buy through Swift’s website for international and domestic concert dates . There are resell sites linked when you click on the shows from her page. Keep refreshing daily to see if any new opportunities pop up.
• Is it too good to be true? Swift’s Eras Tour is an anomaly of epic proportions. She’s shattered records, and demand is very high. If something sounds too good to be true, question and verify before sending money.
• Do not click suspicious links or download apps that you enter your information into. 
• Don’t be “pals” with someone you’ve never met on PayPal. Send money under “Goods and Services,” which makes it easier to dispute purchases.
• Always verify a post on social media by calling your friend selling the ticket or meeting them in person.
• Be wary of third-party sites. Some fans have had luck with stubhub.com and other resellers. But some have traveled long distances overseas only to have their tickets not work.
• Nearly all tickets are digital. Be circumspect about buying printed tickets.

Phishers are not the sweetest cons

There are 69 shows left in 2024 as Swift continues her global conquest through Europe and North America. As the number of concerts dwindles, scam opportunities may increase. Be vigilant and empathetic with anyone you know who falls victim.

“A hack can happen to anyone,” Reeves said. “It could happen to me, even though I work in the industry. Don’t shame people if they fall victim because we need people to speak out about the attacks so that other people are aware of the methods and stop the scammers in their tracks.”

Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter "This Swift Beat."

Follow Taylor Swift reporter Bryan West on  Instagram ,  TikTok  and  X as @BryanWestTV .

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Eras Tour tips: How to avoid scammers when buying Taylor Swift tickets

Taylor Swift releases ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ double album ahead of Record Store Day: Highlights

Catch up on all things 'The Tortured Poets Department':

• Fans celebrated Swift's midnight release of "The Tortured Poets Department" with listening parties and themed gatherings . Many critics praised Swift in their reviews.
• Swift surprised fans at 2 a.m. ET with news of 15 extra songs.
• The album features collaborations with Post Malone and Florence + the Machine. Swift described writing the album as deeply personal. "Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it," she said.
• NBC News' resident Swifties stayed up to blog the biggest takeaways after the album's release.

Vinyl industry rep says pandemic-era manufacturing bottlenecks have eased

"The Tortured Poets Department" is set to be released in special-edition "ghost"-colored vinyl, available both directly through Swift's website and exclusively at Target.

During the pandemic, that might have alarmed vinyl record buyers. As vinyl plants shuttered and employees were sidelined, vinyl production ground to a halt, causing reports of weekslong backlogs and orders going unfulfilled outright.

But in an interview with NBC News on Friday, Dustin Blocker, president of the Vinyl Records Manufacturing Association, said those issues have been resolved and that suppliers now have more than enough capacity to handle any orders coming their way, including massive ones like Swift's.

"In Q3 2023, we saw the [production] timeline start to go back to normal," Blocker said. "And in Q4 it really got back to normal. Now, everyone, including the huge plants, takes only 8-12 weeks [to produce] ... so it's very good news for everyone."

Blocker said any price increases on the supply side sparked by the bottlenecks have essentially reversed.

So, the $40 price tag on the Target edition of "TTPD" is most likely the result of choices made by Swift, her label and the retailer, he said.

Jack Antonoff is sharing BTS pics

Saba Hamedy

Jack Antonoff is giving Swifties what they want: more content.

The Bleachers frontman, who is also Swift’s longtime collaborator and friend, shared pictures of Swift and collaborators on the album, including Florence Welch .

The acting U.S. secretary of labor has a question for Taylor

Acting U.S. Labor Department Secretary Julie Su has a key question for Taylor Swift and her "Tortured Poets Department":

"Is this department unionized?" she wrote in a post on X .

Su, 55, has served as acting secretary since March 2023; she has faced stumbling blocks to being confirmed full time for the role over her perceived pro-union bias .

Destin celebrates Swift shoutout

Nicole Duarte

The city of Destin, Florida, is here for the Swiftie boost.

Google searches for the beach town shot up minutes after Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” was released. The album mentions Destin in the song “Florida!!!” featuring Florence + The Machine.

The city is celebrating the shoutout:

As is Destin's mayor:

Trump gets a question on Taylor

Vaughn Hillyard

A reporter who is part of the pool following Donald Trump on Friday at his hush money trial was able to get in a question to the former president about the new albums.

Trump didn't engage.

Taylor Swift reveals ‘Dateline’ as an inspiration for ‘Florida!!!’

Maddie Ellis, TODAY

Taylor Swift has taken over radio stations, from Channel 13 on SiriusXM to iHeartRadio briefly renaming itself to iHeartTaylor and sharing messages from the songwriter.

Swift revealed in a soundbite played on iHeartRadio that “Florida!!!” — the eighth track of the album and featuring Florence + the Machine — was inspired by “Dateline.”

“I’m always watching, like ‘Dateline,’” Swift said with a laugh. “People, you know, have these crimes that they commit where they immediately skip town and go to Florida. They try to reinvent themselves, have a new identity, blend in.”

It’s the same with heartbreak, she said.

“I think when you go through a heartbreak, there’s a part of you that thinks, ‘I want a new name. I want a new life,’” she said.

Or perhaps in Swift’s case — a new era?

Read more at TODAY.com.

The double album appeared to avoid leaks

Kaetlyn Liddy

The standard edition of "The Tortured Poets Department" is said to have been leaked ahead the album's release. The origin of the apparent leaks is unclear, but none of the songs on the extended "anthology" version of the album seem to have been compromised.

Leaks of major artists' work sometimes occur when physical copies of the album arrive prematurely at record stores or department stores, before the tracks are released on streaming platforms. Fans suspect the surprise drop of the double album was a factor in the 15 extra tracks avoiding leaks.

The extra content was so unexpected that the lyrics of the anthology version have yet to be uploaded to Spotify .

‘The Tortured Poets Department’ broke a Spotify record in 12 hours

"The Tortured Poets Department" is already Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day this year, edging out Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" in less than 12 hours, Spotify confirmed to NBC News.

Swift currently holds the all-time record for most streams in a day by album and by artist for 2022's "Midnights."

Who are The Blue Nile? About the Scottish band named by Swift

In the album's ninth track — "Guilty as Sin?" — Swift name-drops a beloved '80s Scottish band, The Blue Nile.

"Drowning in The Blue Nile. He sent me 'Downtown Lights.' I hadn’t heard it in a while," Swift says in the song.

"Downtown Lights," released in 1989, was the peak of The Blue Nile's commercial success in the U.S., with the song reaching No. 10 on the Billboard American Modern Rock Tracks chart. 1989 is also Swift's birth year and the title of her fifth studio album.

Known for their avoidance of publicity, The Blue Nile has released just four albums since forming in 1981.

Fans share their theories and joy on social media

It wouldn't be a new Taylor Swift album without fans wondering who it's about or decoding the names mentioned in each song. (Who is Cassandra , Taylor?)

That speculation will surely continue, but now that the album is out, fans can't believe their luck. Reactions on social media praised the sonic and lyrical range of the album, saying that "everybody gets everything," whether you listen to Swift for her synth-pop hits or her intimate folk songs.

Author and creator John Green couldn't wait to wake up his daughter to tell her she gets 31 new Taylor Swift songs today.

By the numbers: Will Taylor Swift break her own album sales marks?

Dania Kalaji

“The Tortured Poets Department” blasted to No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes album sales chart following its release. But will it live up to the success of her previous discography?

Here are all of Swift’s bestselling albums in the U.S. ranked to date, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America.

“Fearless” (2008): 10 million units

“1989” (2014): 9 million units

“Red” (2012): 7 million units

“Taylor Swift” (2006): 7 million units

“Speak Now” (2010): 6 million units

“Reputation” (2017): 3 million units

“Lover” (2019): 3 million units

“Midnights” (2022): 2 million units

“Folklore” (2020): 2 million units

“The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection” (2008): 1 million units

“Evermore” (2020): 1 million units

TikTok rolls out new features to celebrate new album

Daysia Tolentino

As Swifties show their love for "The Tortured Poets Department" on TikTok, they have the chance to be featured in a "Fan Spotlight" carousel that highlights videos with the #TORTUREDPOETSDEPARTMENT hashtag.

TikTok released a "Taylor Swift In-App Experience" that serves as a landing page for all things "TTPD." Fans can complete challenges in exchange for limited-edition "TTPD" profile frames and some Taylor-related searches unlock animations inspired by the album. Searches for "Taylor Swift," "Taylor Nation," and "The Tortured Poets Department" lead fans to the landing page.

The features are particularly notable because Swift's music was pulled off the platform earlier this year as part of a disput between TikTok and Universal Music Group, though many of her tracks returned earlier this month .

Fans on TikTok have already been loving "TTPD," sharing numerous theories , tears and rankings .

Swift's song 'Fortnight' with Post Malone hits No. 1 on Apple

Jason Abbruzzese

That didn't take long.

The song "Fornight" off Swift's new album quickly hit No. 1 on Apple's top song chart. It features rapper and singer Post Malone.

Swift also took the next four spots with "The Tortured Poets Department," "So Long, London," "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toy," and "Down Bad."

The National's Aaron Dessner on working with Swift: 'some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic' songs

Aaron Dessner, a musician who is part of the rock band The National, posted to Instagram about working with Swift on the album along with a pic of her in a studio.

He said that he has now worked with swift on more than 60 songs, including 17 across her newest release.

"I am forever grateful to Taylor for sharing her insane talents with and trusting me with her music. I believe these songs are some of the most lyrically acute, intricate, vulnerable and cathartic Taylor has ever written and I am continually astonished by her skills as a songwriter and performer," he wrote, adding in thanks to a long list of other artists and producers.

Will Swift break her own streaming records?

The October 2022 release of Swift's 10th studio album, "Midnights" shattered records on Spotify and Apple Music.

"Midnights" became Spotify's most-streamed album in a single day with 184.6 million streams when it debuted. Swift also broke the record for most-streamed artist in a single day on Spotify with 228 million streams.

The album also become the biggest album of all time by a female artist in Apple Music history by first-day and first-week streams worldwide.

Can Swift outdo herself?

Will Swift's album inspire a new college course?

As Swift became increasingly synonymous with American pop culture, universities around the country started creating entire courses dedicated to studying her lyricism and impact.

Some courses focus on Swift as a business and marketing mastermind, while others analyze her storytelling techniques with all the detail and skill of poetry analysis.

Time will tell whether this new album will inspire yet another college course. Our guess is with all the literary references, it's sure to be on some professors minds.

Read more in NBC News' article here .

Saturday is Record Store Day

The release of "The Tortured Poets Department" will come just in time for a notable day in the music industry calendar: Record Store Day on April 20. The annual event has been observed since 2007 to celebrate independent record stores and is often accompanied by exclusive drops by major artists.

Swift has yet to announce a special event, but the date is marked in the TTPD Timetable on her Instagram, suggesting she might have something up her sleeve.

Swift describes new album: 'Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.'

Patrick Smith

Taylor Swift has offered fans a glimpse into the creative process behind "The Tortured Poets Society" and the emotions that inspired it.

In a press release Friday morning to accompany the new release, the artist said:

"The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time — one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.

"This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.

"This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.

"And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry."

To sleep or stream? Swifties question staying up even later

Can you wait until the morning to listen to the 15 extra songs on Swift's anthology?

If you answered no, you're not alone. Online, fans joked that they didn't expect to get this little shut eye.

Among the fans: Gen Z Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.

"I got votes in the morning. Do I sleep or listen" he wrote .

Others had similar thoughts.

"TAYLOR I HAVE A JOB OH MY GOD" wrote one fan, tagging the artist on X .

"lol Taylor I have to get up early to run errands before work please" wrote another X user.

Leave it to Swift to give us adrenaline to keep us all up a little longer.

'The Tortured Poets Department' becomes Swift's longest album

With the surprise release of 15 additional songs, "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology" has 31 tracks.

That now makes it Swift's longest album, edging ahead of "Red (Taylor's Version)" by just one track.

A list of all 15 of the extra 'Anthology' songs

• “The Black Dog”
• “imgonnagetyouback”
• “The Albatross”
• “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”
• “How Did It End?”
• “So High School”
• “I Hate It Here”
• “thanK you aiMee”
• “I Look in People’s Windows”
• “The Prophecy”
• “Cassandra”
• “The Bolter”
• “The Manuscript”

Surprise: a double album!

"The Tortured Poets Department" is a secret DOUBLE album.

In a 2 a.m. ET surprise, Swift announced an extra 15 songs.

"I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology," she wrote on X . "15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours."

It's 2 a.m.

Now what, Taylor?

ICYMI: Swift's powerhouse publicist Tree Paine gets profiled by WSJ

Swift's longtime publicist, Tree Paine, whom many fans know by name, was the subject of a lengthy Wall Street Journal article published Thursday ahead of the new album's release.

While she declined to be interviewed for the story, it delves into how she became one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry since she joined Swift's camp in 2014.

“There isn’t a publicist in NY, LA or Nashville that wouldn’t jump at an opportunity to work with someone as talented as Taylor Swift and her management team,” Paine said at the time, according to the New York Post .

Read the full story here.

Couples are now wary of Swift's 'Lover' as a love song

Elena Nicolaou, TODAY

“Lover” — at least until recently — was widely received as one of Swift’s classic love songs. When the album of the same name came out in 2019, its title single was declared  first dance song material , or even a “ wedding waltz .”

In the song, Swift paints a portrait of quiet intimacy. Her wild “Red” days, of thrilling romances with highs and lows and uncertainties in between, had settled into something steadier with one person, captured by a simple chorus: “You’re my, my, my, my lover.”

But that interpretation is now in question, as Swift recasts some of her songs in a different light. Ahead of the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,”  she released five playlists on Apple Music , sorting old songs into groups inspired by the five stages of grief, or “heartbreak.”

Aaron Dessner is credited as a songwriter on five of 16 tracks

Dessner, who is a member of the bands The National and Big Red Machine, is one of two producers who worked on "The Tortured Poets Department."

He's credited as a songwriter on five of the 16 tracks on the standard album.

Dessner first collaborated with Swift on her eighth studio album, “Folklore,” for which he shared in the Grammy win for album of the year. He made several guest appearances with Swift on the U.S. leg of the Eras Tour, joining her onstage during the acoustic set for performances of songs they wrote together.

Here's what some critics are saying in their reviews

Angela Yang

The critics have spoken. Here's a roundup of some of their takeaways on "The Tortured Poets Department."

Billboard ’s Jason Lipshutz praised Swift’s boldness for releasing a “knowingly messy, wildly unguarded breakup album” at what’s arguably the peak of her career. It's more mature than her past heartbreak albums, he writes, and “not everyone will love it, but the ones who get it will adore it fiercely.”

Variety ’s Chris Willman wrote that the album can serve as an “unapologetically dramatic” soundtrack to listeners’ own heartbreaks.

Labeling it Swift’s most personal album yet, Rolling Stone ’s Rob Sheffield described it as “the cathartic confession of a woman who thought she had adulthood — and adult romance — all figured out, only to find herself realizing she knows nothing.”

And unlike on past albums, Swift doesn’t portray herself as a victim in this one, wrote the Los Angeles Times ’ Mikael Wood. Instead, the album emanates “a proudly villainous energy as Swift embraces her messiest and most chaotic tendencies.”

Jack Antonoff, Swift's longtime collaborator, posts love for album

Antonoff, Swift’s longtime collaborator and friend, shared his love for the new album on X .

"Love this album more than I can say," wrote Antonoff, who worked on “The Tortured Poets Department” as a producer.

Antonoff also co-wrote eight of the album's tracks.

Swifties are starting to post reax on X

In typical fashion after a Swift album drops, reactions from fans are pouring in online, and they TEND TO COME IN ALL CAPS.

As any Swiftie will tell you, listening to new music from the artist always proves to be a collective emotional experience.

Spotify appears to be holding it together (so far)

The last time Swift debuted a brand-new album, Spotify crashed. No major issues so far this time around.

Shoutout to the engineers and people behind the scenes who are probably working overtime to make sure Swifties don't panic.

We have a new countdown

Don’t go to bed yet! Taylor Swift’s Instagram page is displaying a new countdown to 2 a.m. ET. This wasn't on the timetable ...

Swift releases statement after album drop

In her first social media post after “The Tortured Poets Department” was released, Swift shared a statement about the album online.

These songs reflect her experiences from a moment in time that was equally “sensational and sorrowful,” she wrote, adding that it is a chapter now closed.

“Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it,” Swift wrote. “And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”

Who is Clara Bow?

Daniel Arkin

The 16th and final track on the album is named for Clara Bow, one of the leading lights of Hollywood’s silent era.

Bow, unlike a lot of stars from the 1920s, managed to successfully pivot to roles in talkies by the end of the decade. She co-starred in “Wings” (1927), which today is probably best known as the first movie to win the Oscar for best picture.

I’m not a Swiftie, so I don’t have much insight into how Taylor’s music connects to Bow’s acting career — but I’m curious how this track will be interpreted by the die-hards.

The album is here

BRB, we’re busy listening with the rest of y’all.

You can now choose a Swift-themed chat for your Instagram DMs

Instagram users can now set their direct message conversations to a new chat theme inspired by “The Tortured Poets Department.”

Bars, venues hold special Swift parties

On the eve of Swift’s album drop, event venues across the country (and around the world) hosted release parties so Swifties could get their first listen of the “The Tortured Poets Department” on the dance floor.

At Pianos in New York, music from across Swift’s discography will play until the new album drops at midnight. Attendees are encouraged to come in themed outfits and friendship bracelets, and the bar will be serving Swift-inspired cocktails.

In Los Angeles, El Cid is hosting a listening party complete with fan-made merch, giveaways and a themed wall for photos. Attendees can also expect performances from drag queen Jade Jolie, who appeared in Swift’s “You Need to Calm Down” music video.

Several Swiftie-themed events are also being held across the Washington, D.C., area, according to The Washington Post, which compiled a list .

A Swiftie mom and daughter are hosting their own album party

Kristie Gilmore, 36, is ready to celebrate with her daughter, who was born shortly after Swift's “1989” album and has been a Swiftie ever since.

Gilmore decorated her Boston-area apartment with balloons, signs and stickers in the color palette of “The Tortured Poets Department.” She sprinkled the table with handmade confetti of the album’s logo and made TTPD-themed “membership cards” for themselves and each of her daughter’s friends.

“They’ve been counting down since Taylor announced this album,” Gilmore said, adding, “They’re just hanging out, having a dance party. They’re gonna try to stay up till midnight and listen to it.”

What are the track lengths?

The average track length on “The Tortured Poets Department” is 4 minutes and 4 seconds, making it the third longest album across Swift’s discography.

The longest song is “But Daddy I Love Him,” which clocks in at 5 minutes and 40 seconds.

“I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” is the shortest song, at 2 minutes and 36 seconds.

Travis Kelce shared his early thoughts about the album

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, the star tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, weighed in on the new album.

“I have heard some of it, yes. It is unbelievable,”  Kelce said . “I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops.”

The couple , who have become the internet's favorite love story , were most recently spotted at Coachella 's first weekend.

Taylor Swift beat reporter speaks to NBC's Hallie Jackson

USA Today’s Taylor Swift reporter , Bryan West, spoke with NBC News about the album drop and all the Easter eggs being spotted by fans.

Swift's music is back on TikTok despite UMG dispute

Kalhan Rosenblatt

Some songs that Swift fans know “All Too Well” returned to TikTok this month, months after they were removed.

The songs were among the many tracks Universal Music Group pulled off TikTok after the label and the platform  failed to reach an agreement  this year. (UMG has no relationship to NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)

UMG, known as one of the “Big Three” global music companies, cleared its music from TikTok in late January, saying it was doing so because of a lack of compensation for artists and songwriters. TikTok previously fired back at UMG, accusing the company of putting “their own greed above the interests of artists and songwriters.”

The economics of 'The Tortured Poets Department'

Doha Madani

Die-hard Taylor Swift fans will be spending a pretty penny on her latest album release as she releases four variants of the album with one exclusive track each.

Each variant of “The Tortured Poets Department” is named after the bonus song found at the end of the album: “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross” and “The Black Dog.” If a fan wanted to collect them all, the minimum for $13.99 CDs at a store would cost at least $55.96 before taxes.

Longtime Swifties are already familiar with her tendency to provide deluxe editions, as anyone who was around for her original “1989” release can recall the Target exclusive that included three bonus tracks and three voice memos recorded by Swift. 

Her “Midnights” release included a Target exclusive track that was added to streaming only months later, and in May she released a new song on “Midnights (The Late Night Edition).” But this is the first time Swift has put an exclusive song on each individual variant, with no clear timeline for when they might be added to streaming. 

2024: The year of Post Malone and the pop girlies

Rebecca Cohen

Fresh off of a collab with Beyoncé on "LEVII'S JEANS" from her now-famed "Cowboy Carter," Post Malone finds himself on another major release of 2024: Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department."

He joins Swift on the album's first song, "Fortnight." Swift announced that "Fortnight" would be the album's lead single and the song for which she is releasing a music video 8 o'clock tomorrow night.

"I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever," Swift wrote on social media. "I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight."

While best known for more rap-focused songs, Post Malone is clearly making the rounds in the pop music scene, having also recently collaborated with Noah Kahan on "Dial Drunk." But his back-to-back appearances on arguably two of the biggest albums from pop artists this year raise the questions: Is Post Malone becoming a pop girlie? Is he just having a moment? Or is it all of the above?

There's a book about Swift's impact headed to bookshelves

Rolling Stone writer and music historian Rob Sheffield's book "Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music" will debut Nov. 12.

He's expected to dive further into Swift’s music and fan connection.

Swifties are celebrating with their own listening parties

Many Swifties are sharing their elaborate party setups online as they prepare to celebrate the album release at home.

Karen Rothdeutsch, 25, has decked out her bedroom in upstate New York with “The Tortured Poets Department”-themed decorations, complete with a platter of homemade cupcakes decorated to match Swift’s various vinyl variants.

“I just made my space a little more immersive for my first listen,” Rothdeutsch told NBC News. “I’ll be sitting in my bed with a box of tissues and a notebook, writing down my thoughts and probably checking into Twitter every so often to see what everybody’s thinking about it.”

She said she procured the decorations over the course of several weeks, but the whole setup cost her less than $100. While she decorates on a budget, she said she did splash out on the vinyl variants and collector’s edition CDs.

Swift's new album is already breaking a Spotify record

Spotify said on X that the “The Tortured Poets Department” became the most pre-saved album countdown page in the streaming service’s history.

Since its launch on March 28, TTPD's countdown page has ticked down to the album’s drop, now just hours away.

Was Swift's Grammys dress a 'Fortnight' Easter egg?

The white gown Swift wore to the 2024 Grammys, where she announced "The Tortured Poets Department," appears to have been an Easter egg.

Swift appears to be wearing a very similar dress in the teaser for the "Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)" music video, which will debut 8 p.m. ET tomorrow.

Swift was also pictured hugging Post Malone at the ceremony. Some fans online pointed out a similar shot of the two singers that appears in the teaser for the music video.

Swift drops 'Fortnight' music video teaser

Swift blessed fans with a teaser for “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)," the album's first single.

"At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings. Album tonight. Fortnight music video tomorrow at 8pm et," Swift wrote in a post on X , which was accompanied by a short video clip.

The black-and-white teaser gave a sneak peak of the visuals for the music video. It's a combination of dramatic period gowns and a bleak medical setting in this supercut that is reminiscent of "Poor Things," which Swift's longtime friend Emma Stone recently won the best actress Oscar for.

Swift had announced she'd be dropping a music video at 8 p.m. ET tomorrow by sharing a “TTPD Timetable” on her Instagram page this week.

Merch is here — and already selling out

Hours before the album’s release, themed merchandise for “The Tortured Poets Department” is now available to order online.

The merch drop includes hoodies, crewnecks and gold jewelry branded with the album’s logo. A display case for the album vinyls seemingly sold out within minutes.

ICYMI: The Eras Tour concert film is on Disney+

In case you need something to do as you count down to the new album, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is on Disney+. Swift announced the film would be available for streaming in February.

The film features all songs from the three Los Angeles tour dates during which it was filmed at SoFi Stadium. They include “cardigan,” as well as four additional acoustic surprise songs from the tour: “I Can See You,” “Maroon,” “You Are in Love” and “Death by a Thousand Cuts.”

Swifties online are freaking out over purported ‘leaks’

The internet was at it again this week, with some online circulating what they said were leaks of Swift's new album. It is unclear from where and when the apparent leaks originated, but one Reddit thread is already filled with commentary.

As early as Tuesday, "taylor swift leak" appeared to be blocked from searches on X. Instead, when a user tried to search the phrase, a blank page popped up with the message, "Something went wrong. Try reloading."

The secret message has been decoded

The sixth and final word of the secret message, “mortem,” was revealed today, hidden in the lyrics of the song “Begin Again.”

The complete secret message is: “We hereby conduct this post mortem.”

In a collaboration with Apple Music, Swift sorted some of her existing songs into thematic playlists , along with audio messages from her.

The messages seemed to confirm some fans’ theories that the playlists mirrored the five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — indicating that the new album may grapple with grief or loss. Swift later used a song from each playlist to reveal a hidden word on Apple Music every day leading up to the release of “The Tortured Poets Department.”

Swift sets fans loose on an international puzzle

Swifties had a big day yesterday after murals with QR codes were unveiled in cities around the world, including Mexico City, Paris and Chicago.

Fans stumbled upon the murals, which Swift had not announced, and scanned them to find a link to a YouTube Shorts video. Every mural had a unique code that led to a different video, each revealing a new letter as part of a word puzzle.

Fans came together online to help decode the puzzle, which seemed to hint at the new album's first track, because it spelled out "for a fortnight."

Swifties in Los Angeles flock to Spotify pop-up library

Many Los Angeles Swifties celebrated the new album with a pop-up library installation in partnership with Spotify.

The three-day event, which runs through today at The Grove, featured a sneak peek at some of the album's lyrics.

Fans posted videos of themselves lined up for hours to get a glimpse at the installation.

A manuscript was front and center at the installation, revealing new lyrics periodically as the pages were turned over the course of three days.

Many fans online tried to identify other potential Easter eggs in the pop-up library, such as a bust of a peace sign, quill and fountain pens and a globe that appeared to be pointing to Florida, the name of a track on the album.

Why is the album called 'The Tortured Poets Department'?

Fans were quick to note that “The Tortured Poets Department” is the longest title for a Taylor Swift album by a large margin, a distinction previously held by her third album, "Speak Now." Before "TTPD," "Speak Now" was her only album title consisting of more than one word.

Speculation surrounding the new album and its uncharacteristic title has primarily revolved around Swift’s  2023 breakup  with British actor Joe Alwyn after their six-year relationship.

After the album announcement, a  2022 Variety interview  between Alwyn and Paul Mescal resurfaced on X. The pair revealed in the interview that they were both members of a WhatsApp group chat titled the Tortured Man Club, prompting some fans to  draw parallels  between Alwyn and Swift’s upcoming album.

The true meaning of “The Tortured Poets Department” remains to be seen, but the album's rollout has featured references to famous poems like Charles Baudelaire’s “The Albatross,” among other literary references.

Clues keep coming

Speculation continues to grow over clues for lyrics, song titles and the album’s first music video.

Not much from Miss Swift so far

It's been a notably quiet rollout for "The Tortured Poets Department."

No themed Instagram grid overhaul, no lead singles, not even a cryptic calendar leading Swifties on wild goose chases for potential Easter eggs.

A week before the release, Taylor Swift was rocking out at Coachella instead of feeding her fans who are desperate for a hint of what's to come.

Aside from a hand-painted QR code on the side of a building in Chicago, a planned exhibit at The Grove in Los Angeles in partnership with Spotify and a quick video released Tuesday that appears to leave the "Midnights" era in the dust as viewers tour The Tortured Poets Department, Swift has been silent on what we can expect.

In the video , posted to her Instagram account, we did get a glimpse of a schedule that only showed release day, and on it, the promise of a music video on Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Fourteen tick marks beneath led some to think the music video could be for the 14th track on the album, or for the leading song, "Fortnight," since a fortnight is 14 days.

Swifties believing in the latter theory proved to be correct. Swift announced that the music video would be for "Fortnight" in a Thursday afternoon social media post.

Swifties online continue to grasp for any details to try to figure out what this mastermind might have in store for her beloved fan base.

What songs are on the new album?

Here's what songs are on the track list.

• "Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)"
• "The Tortured Poets Department"
• "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"
• "So Long, London"
• "But Daddy I Love Him"
• "Fresh Out the Slammer"
• "Florida!!! (Florence + the Machine)"
• "Guilty as Sin?"
• "Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?"
• "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)"
• "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart"
• "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"
• "The Alchemy"
• "Clara Bow"

Swift has also announced four bonus tracks: "The Manuscript," “The Bolter,” “The Albatross” and “The Black Dog.” Each bonus track will be available on a separate vinyl variant and won't be on the streaming version of the album.

When does 'The Tortured Poets Department' drop?

Swift's 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department," will be released Friday at 12 a.m. ET, or 9 p.m. PT.

It will be available for purchase on vinyl, on cassette, as a digital album and in CD form. It will also be on several streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music.

But if you plan to stream “The Tortured Poets Department” right after its release, be prepared for potential delays. When Swift’s most recent brand-new album, “Midnights,” was released, Spotify  briefly crashed  because of intense demand.

Angela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.

Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she/her.

Rebecca Cohen is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

is culture and trends editor for NBC News Digital.

AMC Theaters Expands Distribution Team After Taylor Swift Success

The theater chain has hired Fandango marketing chief Stephanie Terifay as its new VP of Distribution

Following the success of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Beyonce: Renaissance,” AMC Theaters is expanding its newly established film distribution team in its efforts to sign deals with music artists to bring concert films directly to cinemas.

As part of that expansion, the chain has hired Stephanie Terifay in the newly created position of vice president of Distribution. She will be responsible for engaging the music industry to develop future projects and tailoring distribution strategies and marketing plans to reach out to fans.

Terifay joins AMC from Fandango, where she led the integrated marketing team and worked closely with Hollywood studios, independent distributors, exhibitors and brand partners on a variety of films. Prior to Fandango, she worked as part of the marketing leadership of the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Los Angeles Clippers and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

AMC has also promoted 13-year company veteran Kevin Arnold to vice president of Programming Promotions & Partnerships, where he will oversee promotional strategies that drive moviegoer engagement. Both Arnold and Terifay will report to Nikkole Denson-Randolph, SVP of Content Strategy and Inclusive Programming, who oversees the new distribution wing.

“The remarkable success of AMC Theatres Distribution last Fall opened an exciting new business for AMC, and we are thrilled to have Stephanie Terifay’s expertise and enthusiasm build upon the brilliant leadership of Nikkole Denson-Randolph,” said Elizabeth Frank, chief content officer. “Through the addition of Stephanie and the much-deserved elevation of Kevin Arnold, AMC Theatres Distribution is well positioned to continue to deliver exciting and compelling content to moviegoers at AMC and across the industry domestically and internationally.”

AMC stunned the industry when it abruptly announced last September that it would partner with indie distributor Variance Entertainment to release Swift’s concert film “The Eras Tour” in theaters without the support of a major Hollywood studio. With studios pulling films out of the autumn release slate, Swift and AMC threw exhibitors a life preserver as “Eras Tour” grossed $250 million worldwide, a box office record for concert films.

That was followed in December by Beyonce’s concert film “Renaissance,” which earned a comparatively modest $43.9 million worldwide that was still enough to rank it among the Top 10 highest grossing concert films ever.

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"Status symbol" pets are being given up by owners who get scared as they grow up, an animal charity has said, with the cost of living possibly paying a part in a rise in separations.

The Exotic Pet Refuge, which homes parrots, monkeys, snakes and alligators among others, says it receives referrals across the country, including from zoos and the RSPCA.

"They're a status symbol. People will say, 'OK, I'll have an alligator or a 10ft boa constrictor'," co-owner Pam Mansfield told the BBC.

"But when the animal gets big, they will get too frightened to handle them, and then the pet has to go."

She added people who want to get rid of the pets sometimes call zoos for help, which then call on her charity.

In some cases, owners don't have licences to own dangerous animals, she says, blaming a "lack of understanding" for what she says is a rise in the number of exotic animals needing to be rehomed.

She says people "just don't have the space" for some snakes, for example, with some growing to as much as 12ft and needing their own room.

The cost of living crisis has also forced owners to give their pets away, she says.

Her charity has also been affected by those increased costs, with the electricity bill rising to £10,000 a month at their highest, to fund things like heated pools for alligators.

Private car parks are accused of "confusing drivers" after introducing a new code of conduct - despite "doing all they can" to prevent an official government version.

The code of practice launched by two industry bodies - British Parking Association and the International Parking Community - includes a ten-minute grace period for motorists to leave a car park after the parking period they paid for ends.

It also features requirements for consistent signage, a single set of rules for operators on private land and an "appeals charter".

Private parking businesses have been accused of using misleading and confusing signs, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees.

That comes after a government-backed code of conduct was withdrawn in June 2022, after a legal challenges by parking companies.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: "We're flabbergasted that the BPA and the IPC have suddenly announced plans to introduce their own private parking code after doing all they can over the last five years to prevent the official government code created by an act of Parliament coming into force.

"While there are clearly some positive elements to what the private parking industry is proposing, it conveniently avoids some of the biggest issues around caps on penalty charges and debt recovery fees which badly need to be addressed to prevent drivers being taken advantage of."

BPA chief executive Andrew Pester said: "This is a crucial milestone as we work closely with government, consumer bodies and others to deliver fairer and more consistent parking standards for motorists."

IPC chief executive Will Hurley said: "The single code will benefit all compliant motorists and will present clear consequences for those who decide to break the rules."

Sky News has learnt the owner of Superdry's flagship store is weighing up a legal challenge to a rescue plan launched by the struggling fashion retailer.

M&G, the London-listed asset manager, has engaged lawyers from Hogan Lovells to scrutinise the restructuring plan.

The move by M&G, which owns the fashion retailer's 32,000 square foot Oxford Street store, will not necessarily result in a formal legal challenge - but sources say it's possible.

Read City editor Mark Kleinman 's story here...

NatWest says its mortgage lending nearly halved at the start of the year as it retreated from parts of the market when competition among lenders stepped up.

New mortgage lending totalled £5.2bn in the first three months of 2024, the banking group has revealed, down from £9.9bn the previous year.

The group, which includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Coutts, also reported an operating pre-tax profit of £1.3bn for the first quarter, down 27% from £1.8bn the previous year.

An unexplained flow of British luxury cars into states neighbouring Russia continued into February, new data shows.

About £26m worth of British cars were exported to Azerbaijan, making the former Soviet country the 17th biggest destination for UK cars - bigger than long-established export markets such as Ireland, Portugal and Qatar.

Azerbaijan's ascent has coincided almost to the month with the imposition of sanctions on the export of cars to Russia.

Read the rest of economics and data editor Ed Conway 's analysis here...

Rishi Sunak has hailed the arrival of pay day with a reminder his government's additional National Insurance tax cut kicks in this month for the first time.

At last month's budget, the chancellor announced NI will be cut by a further 2p - so some workers will pay 8% of their earnings instead of the 12% if was before autumn.

The prime minister has repeated his claim this will be worth £900 for someone on the average UK salary.

While this additional cut - on top of the previous 2p cut in January - does equate to £900 for those on average full-time earnings of £35,000, there are two key issues with Mr Sunak's claim:

• Once the effect of all income tax changes since 2021 are taken into account, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reports an average earner will benefit from a tax cut of £340 - far less than £900;
• Moreover, anyone earning less than £26,000 or between £55,000-£131,000 will ultimately be worse off.

In short, this is because NI cuts are more than offset by other tax rises.

We explain below how this is the case...

Tax thresholds

This is partly down to tax thresholds - the amount you are allowed to earn before you start paying tax (and national insurance) and before you start paying the higher rate of tax - will remain frozen. 

This means people end up paying more tax than they otherwise would, when their pay rises with inflation but the thresholds don't keep up. 

This phenomenon is known as "fiscal drag" and it's often called a stealth tax because it's not as noticeable immediately in your pay packet.

That low threshold of £12,570 has been in place since April 2021. 

The Office for Budget Responsibility says if it had increased with inflation it would be set at £15,220 for 2024/25.

If that were the case, workers could earn an extra £2,650 tax-free each year.

Less give, more take

Sky News analysis shows someone on £16,000 a year will pay £607 more in total - equivalent to more than three months of average household spending on food. 

Their income level means national insurance savings are limited but they are paying 20% in income tax on an additional £2,650 of earnings.

In its analysis , the IFS states: "In aggregate the NICs cuts just serve to give back a portion of the money that is being taken away through other income tax and NICs changes - in particular, multi-year freezes to tax thresholds at a time of high inflation."

Overall, according to the institute, for every £1 given back to workers by the National Insurance cuts, £1.30 will have been taken away due to threshold changes between 2021 and 2024.

This rises to £1.90 in 2027.

The UK could face a shortage of cava due to a drought in the sparkling wine's Spanish heartlands.

The Penedes area of Catalonia is dealing with its worst drought on record, with vineyards across the region so parched the roots of 30-year-old vines have died.

It's left shrivelled red and green grapes languishing under intense sun, fuelled by fossil-fuel driven climate change.

Cava is an increasingly popular drink in the UK, with 17.8 million bottles sold in 2023 - an increase of 5% from the previous year, when Britons stocked up on 16.8 million bottles, according to the Cava Regulatory Board.

That makes the UK the fourth-biggest buyer, behind only the US, Belgium and Germany.

Workforce slashed

The problems have been compounded after Catalonia-based cava producer Freixenet announced it will temporarily lay off 615 workers, almost 80% of its workforce.

Under Spanish law, companies facing exceptional circumstances can lay off staff or reduce working hours.

This measure is expected to take effect from May and it is not known how long it will last.

Price rises

One industry source told retail publication The Grocer  that cava shortages would push up prices "certainly for next year" if there isn't enough supply.

This could last for years if the drought persists, they added.

Consumer expert Helen Dewdney told MailOnline the staff cuts at Freixenet can only mean one thing - price rises.

However, she added, supermarkets say they are not experiencing any issues right now.

Parents are being hammered by rising childcare costs, according to a new study that suggests they may spend more than £160,000 raising their child to the age of 18.

Research by Hargreaves Lansdown has found that parents with children pay £6,969 a year more than couples without.

Over 18 years and assuming an annual inflation rate of 3%, that amounts to a whopping £163,175, the investment platform said.

Its study also found that parents were less likely to have money left at the end of the month.

Single parents carry the biggest burden, with the research suggesting they have just £85 left on average compared to £365 for couples with children.

Hargreaves Lansdown also found just 23% of single parents reported having enough emergency savings to cover at least three months' worth of essential expenses, compared to 63% of couples with children.

Parents are also at a slight disadvantage when it comes to pensions, the research found, with only 43% of couples with children on track for a moderate retirement income, compared to 47% without. Only 17% of single parents have a decent projected pension fund.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at the firm, said "having children is one of the most expensive decisions a person can make".

She adds that as a result of having a child, "financial resilience suffers across the board", and added: "For single parents, life is even tougher, and they face far lower resilience on almost every measure.

"It means we need all the help we can get."

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

One of the top stories shaking up the markets this morning is that UK-based mining company Anglo American has rejected a major $38.8bn (£31bn) takeover bid.

Details of the attempted buyout by Australian rival BHP emerged yesterday  - sending Anglo American shares soaring.

The deal would have created the world's biggest copper mining company - with the news coming as the price of the metal hit record highs this week.

However, Anglo American has now dismissed the proposal as "opportunistic" and said BHP had undervalued the company.

Anglo's shares are slightly down by 0.8% this morning - suggesting investors may not have given up hopes that a deal could eventually be agreed.

However, overall the FTSE 100 is up around 0.4% this morning, buoyed by strong reported earnings from US tech giants Microsoft and Google owner Alphabet.

It's helped the index, of the London Stock Exchange's 100 most valuable companies, hit yet another intraday (during the day) record of 8,136 points this morning.

The winning streak comes after a week of all-time highs on the index - including a record close of 8,078 points yesterday. The score is based on a calculation of the total value of the shares on the index.

Among the companies doing well this morning is NatWest - despite the bank reporting a fall in pre-tax profits of nearly 28% for the first quarter of the year.

Shares in the lender are up more than 3% after its results were better than expected by analysts.

On the currency markets, £1 buys $1.25 US or €1.16, almost on a par with yesterday.

Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil has crept up slightly to $89 (£71).

Self-checkouts - they're like marmite, people seem to either love them or hate them.

But the boss of Sainsbury's has claimed that his customers do  enjoy using self-checkouts, despite criticism that that machines don't always provide the convenience promised.

Simon Roberts told The Telegraph that there are more of them in Sainsbury's stores "than a number of years ago" as shoppers like the "speedy checkout".

But despite this, he said there won't be a time when they'll replace cashiers completely.

"Over the last year, where we've put more self-checkouts in, we're always making sure that the traditional kind of belted checkout is there," he said.

His comments come after northern supermarket Booths ditched self-checkouts at all but two of its sites after customer feedback. 

Walmart and Costco in the US have also scaled back on the systems.

Let us know in the comments - do you love or hate self-checkouts?

We've all heard consumer advice that's repeated so often it almost becomes cliché. So, every Friday the Money team will get to the bottom of a different "fact" and decide whether it's a myth or must.

This week it is...

'Smart meters save you money'

For this one, we've enlisted the help of Dr Steve Buckley, also known as the Energy Doctor and head of data science at Loop...

So do smart meters help you save? 

"The short answer is both yes and no," Steve says.

"Installing a smart meter by itself won't magically reduce your energy consumption. But, by giving you easy access to your energy usage data, smart meters pave the way for savings that you couldn't achieve otherwise."

Before smart meters, most households only found out how much energy they had used when the bill arrived. 

By that stage it's too late to address wasteful usage, leading to what's known as "bill shock". 

"With a smart meter, you can see your usage and costs in real-time through an in-home display or an app provided by your supplier," Steve says. 

"This immediate feedback encourages you to use less energy. If you measure it, you can control it."

In 2022, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero found that homes with smart meters used about 3.4% less electricity and 3% less gas. 

"This might not seem like a lot, but it adds up to a saving of over £50 per household annually," Steve says.  

If all homes in the UK made similar cuts, that would amount to savings of around £1.5bn and a potential reduction in CO2 emissions by about 2.7m tonnes each year. 

"Good for individual households but also great for the planet," Steve says. 

Smart meters are often installed at no extra cost to the consumer - it's effectively free data for households. 

Limitations

Smart meters are more or less what you make of them - a simple, free tool that allows you to see headline figures. 

However, "without detailed analysis, it's tough to identify and eliminate" where you could be wasting money, Steve says. 

Apps like Utrack, Loop and Hugo Energy can help you work out where you might be losing money by offering a more detailed breakdown if connected to your smart meter. 

Those tools are often free, but you may need to register your card details as proof of address. 

The tools give a number of useful insights, including looking at consumption in other households of similar size or monitoring where chunks of your money are going, such as to a faulty boiler or the "phantom load" (energy wasted by devices left on unnecessarily).

Myth or must?

Although smart meters alone don't reduce energy bills, they are a vital tool to help energy efficiency and cost savings. 

By Ollie Cooper, Money team

It can be hard to balance getting nutritious foods that make you feel good without spending a lot.

In this series, which ends today after digging into yoghurt, bread, pasta, fruit juice and plant-based milk, we've tried to find the healthiest options in the supermarket for the best value.

Sunna Van Kampen,  founder of  Tonic Health ,  who went viral on social media for reviewing food in the search of healthier choices, has given his input for the past six weeks.

And for the final part of the series, we're looking at the nation's favourite snack: crisps. 

The series does not aim to identify the outright healthiest option, but to help you get better nutritional value for as little money as possible.

We're a people obsessed: in the UK, we get through six billion packets of crisps a year.

Sunna has three easy tips for finding the tastiest options that are kinder to your body...

1. Understand the fat facts

"Typical crisps can be oil sponges and contain over 30% fat from low-quality vegetable oils that have been fried," Sunna says. 

"What we are on the lookout for those that buck the trend and stay away from the fat." 

So, he says, aim for crisps that contain less than 15% total fat.

2. Fibre up your snack time

"While crisps aren't exactly salad, some can offer more nutritional value than others," Sunna says.

"Check the labels for options that have more fibre or protein."

These help you feel fuller for longer and also keep your digestive system happy.

3. Portion control

"It's easy to demolish an entire bag in one sitting - however, many brands offer multipack bags that are portion-controlled, usually around 25g a bag," Sunna says.

Sticking to these helps to manage calorie intake and stops overindulging.

The big picture

"Small changes might not immediately seem like a lot but if you eat a bag a day with your lunch, we are talking about up to a whopping two litres of oil cut from your diet over the course of the year," Sunna says,

"This is not permission to eat crisps every day (enjoy as an occasional treat) but rather an indication of how small changes add up quickly overtime."

The good news is Sunna's recommendations are all similar in price to their popular, fattier rivals - so you don't need to make a bigger investment to reap some health benefits. 

We've included the prices for the brands' standard multipacks at Tesco - correct as of time of writing. 

Walkers Oven Baked - £1.95 for six-pack

"Around £1.95 for a pack of six, these crisps are baked, not fried, slashing the fat content to 13%, so a great option."

Popchips - £2.25 for five-pack

"These have just 13% fat content as they're popped rather than fried so are a great way to go reducing fat without compromising on the crunch."

And for some non-crisp options...

ProperCorn Popcorn - £2 for six-pack

Often described as "the healthier, lighter option", Sunna says ProperCorn "isn't actually the best option on the market for fat content at 17.4%".

That being said, you do get "double the fibre of standard crisps at 10.9g per 100g". 

At only £2 for a pack of six, it's well-priced, too.

Snack A Jacks - £2.20 for five-pack

"At only 8.3% fat per 100g, it's a great option at £2.20 for a pack of five."

Penn State Baked Pretzels - £1.50 for 175g bag

Now for Sunna's winner.

"The German classic is a great option at only 4.6% fat per 100g," he says.

One downfall is that they are not available in portioned bags, so be careful with the whole 175g bag for £1.50.

Want another option altogether?

"If you want to be even healthier, consider the switch to nuts, seeds or even dried cheese snacks," Sunna says.

"Higher in calories yes, but higher in good healthy fats too and are more satiating which will limit the chance of overeating."

The nutritionist's view -  from  Dr Laura Brown , senior lecturer in nutrition, food and health sciences at Teesside University...

"Baked instead of fried crisps is definitely a way forward as well as the popcorn suggestion," she says.

"We should also be aiming to look at the amount of protein and fibre found in products. For example, lentil and pea snacks are growing in popularity due to their higher protein and fibre values, so the focus should be more on looking for ingredients other than potatoes, oil and salt. 

"I also feel 'crisp' based snacks made in an air fryer are becoming more popular. These can include a wholemeal wrap with a small amount of oil added, and placed in the air fryer with paprika and other seasoning added for flavour. 

"Also, chickpeas in the air fryer make for a super delicious protein and fibre rich snack. They are cheaper than crisps and lower in fat since no oil has to be added."

Read more from this series... 

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Kid Cudi cancels world tour after breaking foot at Coachella

Kid Cudi LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 16: Kid Cudi attends the global premiere of Paramount+ series "Knuckles" on April 16, 2024 in London, England. Knuckles will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+ (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Paramount+) (Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for P)

INDIO, Calif. — Kid Cudi announced Thursday that he was canceling his world tour after he broke his foot during the Coachella music festival.

>> Read more trending news

Kid Cudi jumped off the stage at the Sahara Tent Sunday at the festival breaking his foot, according to Rolling Stone . On Wednesday, it was determined that his injury was more serious than first thought, and he announced that he would need surgery.

Due to the surgery and the recovery time, Kid Cudi had to cancel his “Insano: Engage the Rage World Tour,” according to The Los Angeles Times.

“I’m headed to surgery now and there’s gonna be a long recovery time. We have to cancel the tour so I can focus on getting better to be out there in top shape to rage with you all,” Kid Cudi said on social media, according to Rolling Stone.

“We will be back with new tour dates as soon as possible, and I can’t wait to get back out there with you guys and turn up how we do. I’m so sorry fam and I love you so much, thanks for the endless love and support. I’m really disappointed as I’m sure you guys are too, but I will be back. That’s a promise,” he continued.

Kid Cudi said he broke his calcaneus, according to the LA Times. The calcaneus is the heel bone.

“This type of fracture commonly occurs during a high-energy event — such as a car crash or a fall from a ladder — when the heel is crushed under the weight of the body,” the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says on its website , according to the LA Times. Surgery is done so that the heel doesn’t become deformed.

After he broke his foot Sunday, he had to cut his set short, according to Deadline.

“So I broke my foot today at the show. just leaving the hospital. Never a broken bone before so this is all a bit crazy. I wanna thank u all for ur concerns and well wishes!! I love yall man. I heard yall still ragin when I was offstage. Made me smile big,” he said, according to Deadline.

All tickets are expected to be refunded, according to Variety . The tour is also expected to be rescheduled later on down the road.

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