Taylor Swift tickets

[WonderWoman17]

I realise this will be frowned upon by a lot of people but hear me out. I'm lucky enough to have been able to buy 4 very decent tickets to see Taylor Swift in August this year in London. I'm a big fan, the plan was to go with family, although the 'kids' are grown they enjoy her music and are happy to come along for the experience more than being fans.

The dilemma I have is that tickets are so rare and the tour seems to be such a phenomenon that people are willing to pay an extortionate amount for them. As a family that are struggling with cost of living and have a bit of debt, I find myself in the position on considering whether to advertise these tickets for way above what I paid for them (£190 a ticket). I have seen them advertised for as much as over £2k a ticket, and I find myself thinking if there is a parent out there that has the funds/means and motivation to want to pay £8k for these tickets, would I be an idiot for not selling them?

OK, look at it this way.

£300 - 2 TS tickets
£300 - 10-15 tickets to see new and upcoming acts, people you might not even have heard much about but are willing to give a go

TS marketing has everyone frothing for a millionaire and ignoring so much else!
I haven't dragged TS down, in fact I have praised the creators of project TS several times - they knew what they were doing, clearly!

But you could say that about literally anything.

Why listen to a Richard Osman podcast when I could listen to someone else?

Why choose to read Marian Keyes next novel when there's a first-time novelist on the shelf?

Why watch the latest Martin Scorcese movie when I could watch an independent filmmaker?

Why go and see Peter Kay live when I could see amateur standups down the local community centre?

Its also assuming I want to go and see 10-15 different live acts. I don't have the time or inclination to see multiple artists.

£300 - 10-15 tickets to see new and upcoming acts, people you might not even have heard much about but are willing to give a go

Because spending money on TS tickets means you're not allowed to also go and see other, up-and-coming artists? Give people some credit.

And, just FYI, you sound like one of those MAGA conspiracy freaks rabbiting on about 'Project TS'.

Sad for genuine fans who couldn't get tickets.

Hopefully a scammer will buy them off you and withold payment.

@Wasbedeudetetdas I don't agree. TS started as a pretty straight down the line Country Act and only really went pop on her fourth album, by which time she was already winning Grammys. Why do people always get sniffy about what teenage girls like? Would it be more cred if it was teenage boys? We were all teenage girls once.

Sorry OP i get you might be in financial difficulty but I despise people like you that inflate prices of tickets or take advantage of those that really want to see an artist or band.

Go to the concert or do the decent thing and sell them for what you bought them for.

Because of tickets touts and re sellers have increased costs now its making it really difficult for those of us that love live music to be able to see artists and bands we like because tickets are either sold out so fast because of resellers or they are already highly inflated at the beginning by the likes of ticketmaster.

Personally I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that I took that kind of advantage over someone else that's desperate to see an artist live and yes you can say well if they are willing to pay it then it no big deal, but I think majority will agree it's not the done thing.

Of course some people do both, but the hype around project TS has led to TS tickets being a big focus in lots of households - many people would struggle financially to do both! Being fed manufactured music and manufactured image also makes people less likely to want to experience less manufactured acts, in many cases.
Also, recognising the TS project for what it is doesn't make me a conspiracy freak of any sort, just able to recognise that she is essentially a marketing product in action.

TS marketing has everyone frothing for a millionaire and ignoring so much else!

Come on then, who do you think people should be listening to instead? I've been in and around the music industry most of my my adult life. I used to be a music journalist. My ds is a musician in a band. I'm willing to bet that I listen to / see more up-and-coming artists in a week than most people. I also really enjoy Taylor Swift's music and would love to see her live. It's not a zero-sum game.

Wimbledon do this - and ask for ID proof at the gate. I also wish concerts would do this. My teenager was desperate to go but we never got a code. I was offered tickets by a “friend” for 4 times what she paid for them and she was happily telling everyone she only bought them to make money anyway

I am not 'sniffy' about what teenage girls, or anyone for the matter, chooses to like or dislike - it's entirely their choice! I am also not surprised so many like her, because that's the group the current TS was created to be liked by. I hope they enjoy her concerts. I hope they all go to other concerts too and listen to loads of different music, because music can bring a lot of joy! As for winning Grammy's, well let's not start that particular debate.

You would be absolutely fucking mad not to sell them. Anybody who says otherwise is jealous. The inflated prices aren't going to change if you suddenly sell them at face value, because scalpers exist. There's a very good chance that if you did you would be spun some sob story and then the tickets would be resold. Enjoy your windfall and fuck everybody else. 8k is an obscene amount of money to turn down.

You will look back in 5 years time and wonder what the hell you were thinking if you dont sell them. Nobody is forcing anybody to buy them. Nobody needs to see tailor swift, anybody stupid enough to pay those inflated prices deserves to be parted from their money.

I don’t see anything morally wrong with it, but given the huge amounts being paid and numbers of tickets changing hands, or possibly fake tickets, I suspect that the event organisers are going to be absolutely all over resold tickets with huge levels of verification etc, and as others have said you might find that the person you sell to might not get in, in which case you might find yourself having to give a full refund and missing the concert. So I would be very wary of this.

Oh, get a grip. If the records weren't great they wouldn't sell. Throwing money at something will only take you so far. It wouldn't sustain an eleven album career.
Does anyone remember Pia Zadora?
And it's billionaire

what a load of fuss about nothing! You have bought something, you own it and you are well within your rights to offer it for sale. None of this rubbish about ripping off ‘true fans’.

Put them on sale through the official ticket sellers to protect yourself. You’d still make a healthy profit and someone with more money than sense gets the chance to go to see Taylor Swift.

I wonder if @Wasbedeudetetdas has ever referred to any highly successful male recording artist as 'essentially a marketing project in action'?

I don't think people should be listening to anything (or not listening to anything), I simply feel that the marketing of TS is so powerful that some people become obsessed by her and less open to other things - clearly not everyone will follow that pattern, as you exemplify, but it just worries me. Where I live now it's much harder to see up and coming bands, but when I was younger and lived in a big city I loved seeing new acts - yes some were a tad 'interesting' but many a good night was had. I just fear that people maybe are thinking that TS concert packages are how we should see live bands, and there's much more to it than that (as you know). I don't know if you have ever been to the Barras Ballroom in Glasgow, but that was once of the best places I ever went to concerts - the floor bounced as we bounced and the atmosphere was amazing! It wasn't generally really new acts, bands like James, Gun and Embrace played there too, but it was fab! Anyway, I digress.....enjoy all your live music (even Project TS).

TS is the only female act I'd apply this to, and not sure there are any male acts that are so obviously a marketing project. The success of TS may lead to more acts being generated though.

If you were trying to turn this into some sort of suggestion of me attacking her because she's apparently successful female you failed.

Of course they sell, the target market has been well researched. The product is well made. Marketing is about much more than 'throwing money'.
And regarding your 'billionaire', for these purposes anything millionaire and above is the same category - not sure why you felt you had to emphasise how much money project TS has though, unless you wanted to back up my points?

The Spice Girls were a manufactured project (I loved them too). TS is a singer songwriter. If it gets young kids into music where's the harm? Many, many venues in the UK now seem to specialise in tribute acts, which I think are far more damaging as it means that punters don't want to hear original songs any more. There was a Tommy Cooper tribute act near us recently FFS.
Yes to Barrowlands, also the old Marquee, Astoria. The Granary in Bristol. Melweg in Amsterdam recently for Del Amitri. Small sweaty gigs are wonderful but the big ones can be too.

Embrace and Gun? Oh blimey. Well, if such tedious, posturing dad rock is your bag I can see why you may be immune to the charms of TS 😂

People always turn their noses up at music that girls/women like. 'Twas ever thus.

The Spice Girls were manufactured in that the group was brought together artificially and there was some marketing (along the lines of 'Girl Power' mostly) but I definitely think the machine behind them was much less slick than TS. Steps kind of come into that category too, and I did enjoy their cheesiness, but again the marketing was several 'steps' behind TS marketing! Obviously some of the 'Pop Idol' type acts were manufactured too, but in a much less effective way (and with much less long term success too, at least in the groups they formed).
I am not personally that keen on tribute acts either, and am all for people 'getting into music', I just feel that the TS thing is too big and takes up too much space in the music world, or at least the mainstream music world. It may well implode soon, no matter how well marketed it is, or how much energy she has, everyone needs to slow down a bit at some point!

Again, trying to make this something it isn't.
I like some male and some female artists.
I dislike some male and some female artists.
Most of my male and female friends feel the same.
I just think this particular female artist is a great big marketing project, a very well executed marketing project that loads of folk love (and that's their choice), but a marketing project nonetheless.

Did I say I only listen to those bands or did I saw they were examples of bands who happened to play at one of the best music venues in Glasgow?
Moving on.

I think selling tickets on at hugely inflated prices is totally immoral , if you want them use them if you don’t want them sell them for what you paid . All this crap about if people want to spend £2k on a ticket - I’m sure there will be plenty of parents this summer that get into debt to get tickets for TS so to see people profiteering in this way makes me quite cross.