Beyoncé Partners With Ticketmaster For ‘Renaissance’ Tour Presale—Here’s Why Some Fans Are Worried

Topline

Tickets for Beyoncé’s upcoming “Renaissance” world tour will go on sale next week with Ticketmaster, leaving some fans concerned about securing seats for highly-anticipated concerts after the company’s controversial presale for Taylor Swift’s tour ended in chaos last year.

Key Facts

The North American leg of the “Renaissance” tour will first make tickets available through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system, which aims to limit the number of scalpers buying tickets to resell by confirming users are individuals without a history of activity that could be tied to reselling, according to Ticketmaster.

The first of multiple rounds of ticket sales will begin Monday, February 6, exclusively for members of BeyHive, Beyoncé’s official fan club.

Some fans have voiced concerns about securing tickets for the presale in the wake of Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift debacle, during which the company’s website crashed and some fans were left waiting six hours for tickets while others were not able to purchase seats at all.

The general admissions sale for Swift’s tour, originally scheduled for after the presale, was canceled after Ticketmaster said the company experienced “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand.”

Chief Critic

During a congressional hearing last week, lawmakers grilled Ticketmaster about the company’s practices and its 2010 merger with Live Nation, which Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said resulted in a “competition-killing strategy that has left artists and fans to pay the price.”

Contra

At last week’s hearing, Live Nation President Joe Berch blamed “industrial scalpers” and a “cyberattack” for the meltdown. Ticketmaster previously apologized for the issues.

Key Background

Beyoncé announced “Renaissance” tour dates on Wednesday. The concerts will mark Beyoncé’s first solo tour since 2016. She went on tour in 2018 with husband Jay Z for the “On The Run Tour II,” which sold 2 million tickets and grossed more than $253.5 million. Last week, Beyoncé performed at celebrations for the opening of the Atlantis the Royal hotel in Dubai, reportedly pocketing $24 million for an hour-long set.

Further Reading

Beyoncé Announces ‘Renaissance’ World Tour Dates (Forbes)

Taylor Swift Ticketmaster Hearing: CEO Blames Bot Cyberattack For Website Crash In Congressional Testimony (Forbes)

Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ Is A No. 1 Album—But It’s Not Her Biggest Debut Ever (Forbes)

Elton John’s Tour Became The Highest-Grossing Ever. Here’s Where Others—U2, Taylor Swift, Rolling Stones—Rank (Forbes)