Ticketmaster is trying to make sure it won't break anyone's soul who tries to buy tickets to Beyoncé's upcoming tour.
The ticketing giant addressed concerns about overwhelming demand for the Renaissance World Tour by making some changes in the wake of backlash from angry fans who tried to buy tickets to Taylor Swift's tour last year.
Ticketmaster is staggering sales for Beyoncé's tour rather than releasing tickets for all the dates at once. Ticketmaster's site crashed during a presale event in November for Swift tickets after the company said it was overwhelmed by fans and bot attacks, leaving many people waiting in queues for hours only to lose tickets.
Ticketmaster said the North American leg of Beyoncé’s tour will use Verified Fan technology "to ensure more tickets get in the hands of concertgoers" instead of going to brokers who resell them at exorbitant prices on the secondary market.
The Verified Fan program requires registration which the company said will help filter out buyers looking to resell tickets, and windows to register for the Verified Fan program for Beyoncé’s tour will close at different times depending on the city.
The registration period is divided into three groups (A, B, C) based on city, like Group A for Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.
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Concert organizers will determine when tickets go on sale as well as the price, not Ticketmaster.
Since the company is expecting strong demand, a lottery-style process will determine which Verified Fans receive an access code. Others will be added to a waitlist for the opportunity to buy tickets.
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Only about 5% of tickets sold through the Verified Fan program have historically ended up on the reseller's market, compared to 20-30% for non-Verified Fan sales, according to Ticketmaster.
Beyoncé announced her new world tour on Feb. 1 with stops in Europe and North America in what is expected to be one of the hottest tickets of the year. The Renaissance World Tour kicks off in Stockholm on May 10, and her first U.S. date is Philadelphia on July 12.
Tickets go on sale Feb. 6., beginning with a presale for BeyHive members (register here). Citi credit card holders can also take advantage of another presale here.
The fan anger over the disastrous rollout of Swift's tickets in November resulted in a group of U.S. senators grilling Ticketmaster last month over its policies. Ticketmaster also issued an apology for those "who had a terrible experience" trying to buy tickets to Swift's The Eras Tour.
Fans vented on social media, reporting that codes were not working and people were being booted out of the queue after hours of waiting.
Swift also spoke out on social media, writing that it was "excruciating" for her to "watch mistakes happen with no recourse.”
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