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?

After what Kanye West and Kim Kardashian did to her she disappeared completely for a year. Then there was lockdown. She's on tour at the moment so if course there's more publicity than usual.
Re-recording her first six albums after some arsehole threatened to stop her using them is a stroke of genius, IMO. I don't begrudge her a penny of her success, like JK Rowling she's worked bloody hard for it.
She doesn't have to get her tits out to sell records either.

I am not an expert, but there have been different interpretations upthread about the Kim/Kanye 'thing'. Again, she has marketed herself as always been correct/always having the higher morale stance fairly well - it's part of the package. Also, lots of artists don't 'get their tits out' to sell records, and even if some do, so what - their bodies, their choice.

Nobody said a marketing team did write all, or any, of her songs though.
Marketing isn't actually about someone writing your songs for you, it's about taking an already fairly talented person and marketing every positive aspect of that person (and researching what fans might respond positively to). Her public image is cultivated to show her in a positive light and to encourage us to feel a certain way about her.

I think it's disingenuous to claim you'd be doing people a favour by scalping them on ticket prices by massively inflating the price. You're not considering it to do anyone a favour, you're considering taking advantage of people for your own financial gain.

I don’t think you will be able to do it anyway, I have a feeling it will be impossible to sell them except through Ticketmaster etc.

YABVU. Also find it hard to see how you're struggling with the CoL crisis when you forked out £190 x 4.

People like you are the reason that it's been so hard to get tickets.

Well that and the ridiculous hype about one person!

I agree, I'm not going myself, but have been shocked at the hoops people have been required (and willing) to jump through to get them. Her music is ok at best.

OP@WonderWoman17 those tickets selling for ££££'s are not real......i have tickets too and you must know you can only re-sell them through the official agencies?

I am shocked at how many folk idolise her tbh, even on this thread it's apparent.

Something that has become apparent through multiple replies is the amount of people that don't realise the ways and means of selling / acquiring resale tickets. I've been to a multitude of ticketed events where I have bought on resale sites or that were advertised on other platforms. I've attended lead booker events when I've never met the original buyer. I've been to iTunes festival multiple times way back when you had to provide named photo ID. I've sat in people's season ticketed seats without ever having their card. There is always a way.

Of course there is an official re-sale platform for these tickets, in the way they were sold there had to be, however it's very easy to buy or sell in other ways. Of course there's an element of risk but there's also ways of mitigating that risk. It's crazy to think that of the hundreds of thousand of people attending in the UK alone that some won't have bought their re-sold tickets somewhere other than the official platform.

If I did sell the tickets (again, I am very much likely not to) I would have no qualms in meeting the people at the venue to transfer them over. If there are genuine people selling and not scamming people with fake tickets they should do all they can to ensure the person felt secure in the purchase.

I still dont get what your problem is @Wasbedeudetetdas

You say Marketing isn't actually about someone writing your songs for you, it's about taking an already fairly talented person and marketing every positive aspect of that person (and researching what fans might respond positively to). Her public image is cultivated to show her in a positive light and to encourage us to feel a certain way about her

But what's the actual issue? You admit yourself that she's talented, so what's the problem that she's being positioned in the best possible light? Every single person in the world puts themselves in their best light when they go to work. I know the "professional" me, is very different to "mum me" - there's a lot less swearing to start!

The reason I like Taylor (I don't have all her albums, I'm not obsessive) is that I can relate to her lyrics. I like her simple melodies that I can sing along to. My 8yr old is learning her songs on the guitar and has been inspired to learn music BECAUSE of her love of Taylor. She's not pictured falling out of clubs or behaving badly. Right now, she just seems to be making music and supporting her boyfriend.

And as for your claim that "I am not an expert, but there have been different interpretations upthread about the Kim/Kanye 'thing'"

You do know that Taylor was vindicated in that? Kim released an edited version of a voice message - when the full conversation was leaked, it was proven that Taylor had been telling the truth the whole time.

"I am not an expert, but there have been different interpretations upthread about the Kim/Kanye 'thing'."

Kanye's behaviour at the VMAs that started the whole thing was crass. He then wrote a song saying he could sleep with her because he 'made that bitch famous' and then doctored a recording of a phone call to imply that she consented to it.
She was called a snake and a liar for a long time before she was proved right. None of this makes her the bad guy in this mess.

If you're standing up for Kanye West then you know you've got to be in the wrong.

yes but you are saying tickets are available to buy for £££'s now.....tickets are not even available yet for purchasers to re-sell via the official means so nobody can be currently selling taylor swift tickets for next summer in the UK yet! if anybody is paying 8K out for tickets now then they are getting scammed.

@WonderWoman17 you are also part of the problem if you choose to buy or sell tickets via other means as you are contributing to a. the scammer problem b. the ticket inflation problem.

Why does this bother you so much? There are more things to get worked up about .
I go to 30 or 40 concerts a year, maybe more. Have done since I was a teenager. It's one of the best things in the world to do, for me. Last year there was one in a castle and one in someone's house in front of 12 people. There's room for everything. If you don't like Taylor Swift, move on. I don't like Ed Sheeran but I don't go onto threads about him and slag him off.

I'm not sure I recall saying it bothered me.

And yet here you are...

This is simply not true. The official resale through TicketMaster and AXS are open now. There are just no tickets. A simply google will tell you as much.
You can buy a multitude of tickets through sites such as Viagogo, StubHub etc. however you are taking a risk (although they do claim to be 100 legitimate and protected). There are also dozens and dozens of other avenues you can go down to secure tickets, again, some that come with bigger risks than others. Simply do not send money to people over the internet that cannot satisfy your verifications.

It is all quite strange. So what if a big singer markets herself? isn’t that what most performers want? To reach the maximum number of people with their music? Other than perhaps a few more pretentious types.

I don’t know any Taylor Swift songs other than the shake one, although I bet I would recognise some of her others. She has minimal impact on my day to day life. But I honestly could not care less if she is successful and if lots of people like her. Why would that be an issue?

She does not seem to be harmful and in many ways I think she is a good role model. I like the fact she has gained independence from her record company. I don’t love that the merch on her website is overpriced and poor quality. So she is not perfect, but I doubt she claims to be. What I dislike is the focus on her love life. She has experienced much misogyny in her public life which is completely unacceptable.

I don’t understand the appeal of Beatles songs, but I accept there is a market for them and ongoing hype. Again who cares?

anyway, her songs helped my daughter at a very low phase. It helped my teenager feel that she belonged and was part of something. It has helped her connect with new friends at university. I can’t see how that is a bad thing.

I voted yabu as why would you spend close to £800 on tickets if you’re struggling with debt and the cost of living??!

@itsnotabouthepasta I don't have 'a problem'. I just have a view on how the whole TS brand is marketed, just as those who idolise her also have a view.
@beguilingeyes yep, here I am responding to you when you tag me/quote me - how mad is that?
@CreatingChaos I'm glad that the songs helped your daughter - music can be a wonderful thing. I just personally find something about the whole TS brand disconcerting.

For 7k I would op

I do understand and appreciate everyone who has mentioned this. I paid for the tickets on a credit card knowing that this tour is a one off experience and that by the time the concert actually happened (almost a year later) that it'd be paid off.

As a family we have an amount of manageable debt, necessary unexpected expenditures on credit cards for example that are paid off over a period of time. Cost of living is impacting us in the same way I imagine it is for everyone and we continue to tighten where we can, I did not mean to give off the impression we are drowning in debt or living stricken.

My point was that something I'd purchased seems to have risen extremely high in value and would I be an idiot for not considering selling these on to a willing and able person when it would certainly make our lives easier. In anything else in life this seems to be absolutely fine (art, media, property) however when it comes to tickets people do seem to have very strong feelings about it. I'm not a tout, I bought them as a fan and with every intention of going. Its just a thought process.