How Swifties were short-shrifted by their hero

It’s a Columnist’s lucky day when three of your favourite topics can be fused into a single piece: your kids, music and business. With the added bonus that all of my years of “research” on the road with Pearl Jam finally came in handy (see representative prior post “What's with you and Pearl Jam? VIII”).

I’ve posted the entire column below, as an editing error cut off the ending. But, as always, please support local journalism! Buy a print copy, use your Apple News, or subscribe to The Star online via my special discount code: www.thestar.com/informed:

Taylor Swift is bringing pure joy to the young and old alike, but “Tay” failed her fan base on this unprecedented tour.

This isn’t about $175 concert tickets, which are relatively cheap when compared to a decent ducket to see our 13^th place Raptors. Given the economics of streaming, live shows are how most artists earn a living.

For the millions of parents who couldn’t afford aftermarket tickets to what will be a truly fabulous run at the Rogers Centre, I’m sorry to report that it didn’t have to be this way. Swift embodies perfection as both a musician and businesswoman, but she could take a page from Pearl Jam’s book when it comes to keeping tickets affordable.

It’s been 30 years since Pearl Jam was asked by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to file an antitrust complaint against the “Goliath” Ticketmaster. That legendary effort to get ticket prices down ultimately failed, and as Rolling Stone Magazine pondered at the time, “if America’s most powerful rock band” “couldn’t do it, who can?”

Prompted by Swiftie complaints, the DOJ filed another antitrust suit against Ticketmaster earlier this year. I have low expectations that this movie will end differently, but Swift’s team bears some of the blame that a single nosebleed seat to tomorrow’s opening show would have set you back more than $3,500 on secondary ticket site Stubhub.

That’s more than "Champagne Problems."

Last year, an estimated 31 million would-be ticket buyers signed up for a Swift Toronto “Ticketmaster Verified Fan” code. The code is meant to keep “bots” from grabbing tickets to popular concerts.

Where Swift fell down was allowing those lucky enough to get an allocation to flip their prize for more than the $150 to $600 they originally paid.

Swift isn’t getting the $3,500 that you now see online. That largesse (less 21 per cent in Stubhub fees) is going to someone who won last year’s "Gold Rush" via their so-called Verified Fan code. By not restricting the resale of her tickets to their face value, as Pearl Jam does (except where local laws prevail), Swift’s team incented countless would-be ticket speculators across North America to sign up as “Verified Fans,” despite having no intention of attending the concert themselves.

That boosted demand, screwing Swift’s true fans in the process.

If you didn’t luck out on this Swift tour, my advice to all fellow Dad’s (and Mom’s) is simple: hit the road next time! With more modest demand overseas, if you didn’t mind using your airmiles, it was actually thousands of dollars “cheaper” to see Swift perform last June in Lyon, France, or at London’s fabled Wembley Stadium.

My Father and I saw Queen perform when I was 14, and I'll never forget Freddie Mercury for as long as I live. Swift is no different.

For more than a decade, I’ve taken my own kids “On Tour with Daddy’s Pearl Jam” as they call it. Your thing might be Impressionist art, the Blue Jays, Springsteen, F1 racing, or cooking. Whatever it is, carve out a few days each year and share that passion with your children; it’s the perfect excuse to expose them to as much of the “adult world” as you can. 

Whether the concert is in Pittsburgh or Prague, the concert itself is a vehicle, not a destination. 

By sharing your pleasures, you’ll create deeper connections. There will be plenty of time for a “guy’s weekend in Cooperstown” as an empty nester (which is coming far sooner than you think). Planned properly, you’ll be teaching your kids about facets of life, people and the world around them that they will otherwise be unlikely to experience — a concert in Krakow, Poland (photo below) was paired with a tour of Auschwitz, for example. 

All of which is made easier by Pearl Jam requiring that Ticketmaster prohibit flipping their tickets for profit. As one of the top grossing tours of 2024, this fan-friendly rule isn’t hurting sales.

If Swift’s team takes a lesson from my icons of Grunge, there will fewer "Broken Hearts" when the next tour comes around.

MRM

(note: this post is an Opinion Piece)