Liam Gallagher, former frontman for the band Oasis, is touring his debut solo album As You Were later this year in the UK and Ireland. Taking cue from fellow mega-artists like Shania Twain and Taylor Swift, Gallagher decided to cash in on customer…I mean, fan loyalty, and give presale access only to those who pre-order his album from the artist’s official store.

Liam Gallagher’s website states that “if you pre-ordered As You Were from the official store before 10am on Tuesday 5th September then you’ll be eligible for first access to tickets for Liam’s tour”. Directly below the message are links to purchase his album in multiple formats, ranging from a digital download for $12.99 to a deluxe box set for $69.99.

Die-hard fans and customers would then receive the album when it is officially released on October 6. Those who completed a purchase were instructed to check their email for a code that would give them access to a 48-hour presale occuring before tickets go on sale to the general public.

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And purchase for presale, they did. So many, in fact, that when tickets went on sale via Ticketmaster at 10 AM yesterday morning, all ten shows sold out in minutes. Fans were left understandably frustrated, and turned to Twitter to express their grievances with the singer.

https://twitter.com/carisetc/status/905358928254574592

https://twitter.com/MattTaylor135/status/905359373052076032

To which Liam lovingly replied to his dedicated, patronizing fans:

New Musical Express reported that, “A spokesperson for Ticketmaster has told NME that there had been “no technical issues experienced” with the pre-sale, adding: “This was a very high demand event, and a simple case of demand outweighing supply. In no way did having a pre-sale code guarantee a ticket – it was a first come, first served basis. There will be a further pre-sale tomorrow”.

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This doesn’t even cover the horde of fans that claim to have paid for the pre-order and never even received a presale code.

Fan club presale access has been around for years, and can be successful in breaking up the number of customers attempting purchase at once, as well as making the most loyal fans feel like they’re part of something intimate and exclusive, to be sure. However, the trend seems to be moving fiercely in the direction of monetizing off of fan’s loyalty rather than rewarding it. What’s more, based off of the purchase-only presales we’ve seen thus far, it doesn’t seem that fans’ patronage makes it any more likely that they will gain access to their chosen artist’s tickets.

Shortly after his first aggressive tweet, Liam went on to ensure fans of additional ticket purchase opportunities and stricter purchasing rules.

No further information about a second presale has been posted on the Ticketmaster or Liam Gallagher websites. Tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow, Friday, September 8 at 10 AM.