For Chance To See Taylor In Concert, Swiftes Urged To Buy Stuff

Taylor Swift has unveiled a new collaboration with Ticketmaster that's drawing scrutiny from fans, who feel like they're being forced to spend money on her merchandise and albums to get a chance at buying a concert ticket.

The Daily Mail reports she's not the first singer to use Ticketmaster's Verified Fan program. Bruce Springsteen and Ed Sheeran have all tested the verification system, but she appears to be kicking it up a notch by getting her fans to purchase merchandise albums, merchandise and watch videos to 'boost' their opportunity to purchase concert tickets.

Swift presented this as a 'fun way' for fans to earn access to the show, as well as fight against ticket bots and re-sellers. For years, scalpers have been buying concert tickets through Ticketmaster and then turning a profit. More recently, ticket bot software has been able to automatically purchase thousands of tickets.

Swift has gained a reputation of being a shrewd businesswoman, suing fans for selling artist-inspired items and copyrighting her lyrics, so this move shouldn't come as a surprise. Her superfans, also known as Swifties, probably would have purchased her merchandise and albums anyway.

Taylor is going on tour! Register for #TaylorSwiftTix to have the first opportunity to access tix. Register here 👉 https://t.co/by0d1Cg3Yf pic.twitter.com/wOzxMsROK4

— Taylor Nation (@taylornation13) August 25, 2017

But for fans who aren't trying to spend money just for the chance of spending more money, the arrangement is off-putting. They took to Twitter to voice their complaints.