Taylor Swift Fans Disappointed to Learn That Mother Loves Money

Abuse of power comes as no surprise. I think Taylor Swift said that one of the vault tracks from Red (Taylor’s Version). Swifties are feeling the sentiment more than ever today, in the wake of two Eras Tour presales that went horribly wrong. Some people waited upwards of eight hours to get tickets, only to pay exorbitant amounts for nosebleeds, have their cards charged multiple times for tickets they did not receive, or not get tickets at all. Some of the people who did get tickets are now comparing the feeling to survivor’s guilt.

This intra-fan turmoil has led some people to a shocking realization: Taylor “Private Jet-gate” Swift loves money. Perhaps she loves money more than she loves her fans. Could that be true of the woman who encouraged fans to buy four different versions of the same record because it could be turned into a clock (clock mechanism not included, but available for $49 on her website)?

If you haven’t been following this saga, here is the rundown:

• On Tuesday, the Verified Fan presale opened up. Ticketmaster immediately crashed and people waited for hours in a barely moving queue. If they were lucky, they were finally able to purchase tickets, at which point they found that the prices were much higher than anticipated due to Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” feature, which increases prices in accordance with demand.
• Also on Tuesday, Grammy nominations came out. Swift was nominated for Song of the Year for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film).” She posted an Instagram story about the nomination without acknowledging the hysteria going on in her fanbase. How a music video gets nominated for Song of the Year is a good question that we simply do not have time for.
• On Wednesday, there was the Capital One presale. Cardholders were once again asked to wait multiple hours in a queue, only to reach the end of it and find that all of the presale tickets had sold out.
• Amid all of this, Ticketmaster resellers have been preying on the frenzied Swifties and offering tickets for the price of a down payment on a very nice house.
• Today, Live Nation chairman Greg Maffei went on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and said there was nothing he could do about any of this because this was “a function of the massive demand that Taylor Swift has.” Also, the Tennessee Attorney General is now investigating anti-trust violations by Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Whew. That was a lot. Let’s check in with the Swifties and see how they’re feeling.

Seems like it’s not going great. Some Swifties, however, are noting that the woman who reportedly bought her $17.75 million Rhode Island home in cash is a “capitalist” above all else.

So, really, no one is happy. The people who got tickets feel bad for their wallets and those who didn’t are mad at Swift for not implementing a better strategy. And everyone is mad at her for saying nothing while her fans suffer. The only people who aren’t upset are the folks at Live Nation/Ticketmaster and Swift herself, who stands to make millions from a sold-out stadium tour.

As this post was being written, Taylor Nation (her official management arm) did make an announcement. What was it? Well, of course it was a new “Anti-Hero” remix, and you can buy it for $0.69 on her website.