SINGAPORE — Tickets for the Singapore stop of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour were sold out by around 8.20pm on Friday (July 7), a little over eight hours after they went on sale, but not before leaving fans frustrated by glitches in the ticketing system.

Many who spoke to TODAY called for better management and handling of ticket sales for hugely popular events such as Swift's concerts. 

Within minutes of the sale starting at noon, there were reports that the various Singapore Post (SingPost) outlets were having “technical issues” accessing the Ticketmaster system where tickets were sold.

Even those who were first or second in line at the post offices, after having queued for up to 40 hours, had to wait as long as two hours to even reach the counter to get their tickets to the concerts.

Tickets were also not guaranteed for those who were among the first 30 people to join the physical queue. SingPost had said that the first 30 would have a higher chance of getting their tickets. 

At SingPost’s Bedok Central branch, the first person in the queue had to wait for almost an hour to finally get hers.

Ms Roxanne Chua, an 18-year-old retail worker, had been in the queue since 5am on Thursday and had been queuing for 31 hours since then. She had taken three days off work.

“I was so scared since 5.30am this morning, my heart has been beating so fast,” said Ms Chua after laying her hands on four Category 3 and two VIP tickets.

“This is the first time I’m so happy to spend S$3,000.”

She had managed to sleep for only an hour and a half since she joined the queue.

TICKETING SYSTEM COULD HAVE BEEN IMPROVED: FANS

Swift’s The Eras Tour will be held on March 2 to 4 and 7 to 9, 2024, at the National Stadium.

Pre-sale tickets for United Overseas Bank cardholders were sold out within three hours of them being issued on Wednesday on the Ticketcharge website, while the general sale began at noon on Friday.

Wednesday's pre-sale was not available at SingPost and those who tried to buy tickets had complained of various glitches on the Ticketetmaster website, including being kicked out of the online queue and having to join again to secure a spot. 

Fans whom TODAY spoke to on Friday said the Ticketmaster website kept crashing, calling this "unacceptable" as the concert organisers should have anticipated the volume of fans who would try to get tickets online.

Ms Chua said that each SingPost outlet could have been allocated a set number of tickets.

"I can tell they (the staff) are trying their best, it’s the website’s problem," she said, while waiting for her tickets to be processed. 

Many in the queue were puzzled to hear that the SingPost outlets vied for tickets from the same website that people online were getting theirs from.

In fact, some online buyers managed to get their tickets before those who queued at the post offices.

Ms Nila S, a 20-year-old student from Bangalore University, said she had mistakenly believed that queuing up at SingPost would mean higher chances to snag tickets.

“Now we are competing with the millions online, so it’s not much better. They should have a system where tickets are allotted to the post office,” she said.

Ms Chua also said that Ticketmaster should update its website and find a way to handle the number of people going there online.

“It’s unfair and ridiculous that I was in the waiting room and I timed out twice because the server couldn’t hold that many people,” she said.

Other fans who queued physically overnight said that SingPost could have provided queue numbers to prevent people from cutting queues.

Ms Rachel Lim, a 21-year-old student at the Singapore Institute of Management, queued for five hours before she reached the counter, only to learn that there were only single seat and VIP tickets left. She decided not to get any tickets.

“I might as well have stayed at home. I’m sure scalpers have a part in this... I’m so angry, I’m never going to queue again,” she said.

Travel platform Klook said its "experience packages", which came with two tickets and a night's stay at a selected hotel, were snapped up within six hours. It did not reveal the total number of packages that were sold.

The packages ranged from S$542.00 (four-star hotels) to S$4,977 (five-star hotels).

“We expected immense demand but safe to say that was an understatement, with more than 600,000 fans from across the region eagerly waiting in line,” a Klook spokesperson said.

SWIFT'S ALLURE

Experts said the drama over these tickets reflects fans' devotion to Swift, which is due to the singer’s popularity, her status as a feminist icon and a relatable role model to young people.

"The craze for Swift's concert is mainly drawn from her popularity in this region," said Associate Professor Lau Kong Cheen of Singapore University of Social Sciences, a marketing lecturer. 

"Of course, the post pandemic scenario plays a part as well."

Dr Soh Kai Ruo, a lecturer at the National University of Singapore's Department of Communications and New Media added: “Taylor Swift is a brand, she has creative control over her tours.”

Citing how the singer in 2021 began re-recording her first six albums after losing her masters to her old label in a dispute, Dr Soh said this created a “new buzz about her music again”. 

She also added that Swift appeals to particular groups of women who share similar experiences with her, showing that it is possible to “take back power” within a particular context, which is why there are fans who view her as a feminist icon.

More than that, experts describe the celebrity as “personable” as she sings about her life, and a “role model for championing women's rights”.

Editor-writer and former music reviewer, Mr Yeow Kai Chai, said that Swifties find their voices through her songs, or “feel their concerns reflected through them”.

When she re-recorded her songs to regain control of her copyright, it made her an “icon for self-empowerment for people who feel they are ill-treated by the mechanism of power”, he added.