For a pop star with the album sales, fan base, and household name status that Taylor Swift has, her upcoming “reputation” tour sales certainly don’t back that up.
The New York Post reports that a music industry insider said that “sales so far have been a mega disappointment,” and that “there are hundreds if not thousands of tickets left for every show.”
Out of 33 dates on next summer’s “reputation” tour, which went on sale on December 13, not a single show has sold out. This is especially alarming considering that all the dates on Swift’s last tour in 2015 sold out within minutes.
Ticket prices are a huge factor for poor sales to Swift’s latest tour, which fans were quick to note were much higher than previous tours. Even in the highest sections in massive football stadiums, where Swift will barely be visible, fans are being asked to cough up over $200 before fees.
Dear @taylorswift13,
Please lower your ticket prices.
-your fan that wants to see you but can't afford to pay $800— Kelsey Keppler (@_KelseyKeppler) December 16, 2017
I really want to go see Taylor Swift but damn her ticket prices are high…cause I don’t want to sit all the way to the top I actually want to see her perform not just listen to her
— Danielle Fernandez (@danielledeefdz) December 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/qktut42/status/941515208861913088
This is not to mention the money fans had to spend just to get a chance to buy tickets. Swift and her team led fans to believe that this tour would be a quick sell-out like the others. Through the Ticketmaster Verified Fan program, concert-going hopefuls had to register for presale access weeks in advance, and were told that they could gain “boosts” that would advance their spot in the ticket-buying line by buying her music and merchandise as well as watching and sharing her music videos on social media.
Despite the non-sellout of the highly-hyped tour, David Marcus, executive VP and head of music at Ticketmaster, says he is not worried about slow sales.
“We’d like to sell the last ticket to her concert when she takes the stage each night,” he says. “We’re not trying to sell all of her tickets in one minute; we’re trying to figure out how to sell tickets in a more modern way.”
