It’s all good fun. Until people blame you for missing out on a ticket.
Political and media hyperventilation over 33-year-old economic harbinger, songstress and online ticketing cataclysm Taylor Swift’s Australian tour has reached spontaneous combustion point, with politicians and authorities launching official regulatory interventions across two states for the gigs.
Fame does that, and politics is show business for ugly people. There is no suggestion whatsoever decision makers are trying to bask in the warmth of the Swiftian halo, nor jostle their place into the allotted quota of tickets that organisers and stadia reserve to appease dignitaries and local officials.
Victoria has declared Swift’s tour a ‘major event’, thereby invoking a raft of special powers available to it to tighten security and stomp on annoying protestors, not that there are any. But there are ticket scalpers, and they will be pursued, possibly more by desperate fans than authorities.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is being forced to explain his fandom for Swift daily on commercial radio.
Economists are speculating on the potential impact of her ‘Eras’ concerts on both inflation and interest rates.
Bloomberg on Wednesday led its morning Australian bulletin by discounting the alleged Swift stimulatory effect, estimated to generate $1.5 billion in spend, saying the economy is slowing to a crawl.
But in NSW, as the government and treasurer Daniel Mookhey lined several senior public servants up for sacking to ritualise fiscal rectitude, minister for fair trading Anoulack Chanthivong and special minister of state/minister for roads/minister for the arts/minister for music and the night-time economy/and minister for jobs and tourism John Graham put out a special doubleheader to herald Taylor Swift’s arrival with a good old-fashioned crackdown.
“Fair Trading has written to online sales platforms including eBay, Ticketek and Gumtree warning them not to create bad blood by letting consumers get ripped off, that high-risk events are coming up and they have an obligation to protect consumers,” the pair boomed in an official missive.
“The NSW Government has the power to punish those doing the wrong thing and is making clear it won’t hesitate to use them,” the warning continued.
“Maximum penalties for breaching ticket reselling laws are $110,000 for a corporation or $22,000 for an individual. Fair Trading can also issue a $550 fine for individuals for any offence under the laws, including one-off breaches.”
Given that the It’s been a long time coming A-Reserve ticket package to see Swift has a $1229.90 ticket price (you get the special VIP faux-crew laminate with that, plus a tote bag) there’s probably still margin in there for the entrenched industry of parasitic scalpers.
Chanthivong was ready on cue with the obligatory warnings. She is so not hanging for a ticket.
“Consumers shouldn’t be forced to shake it off when they’re being ripped off. The days of buying tickets for major events with the plan of on-selling to consumers at exorbitant profits is over,” Chanthivong chimed.
“NSW Fair Trading is watching platforms to identify any tickets being sold above the 110% cap.
“Events like Taylor Swift coming to Sydney are a once-in-a-generation opportunity, so for many young consumers, this could be the first event they purchase tickets for. We want to tell young consumers — don’t lose your hard-earned money to a third party.”
Graham also went on the hunt for secondary marketers.
“We want to make sure that resellers doing the wrong thing are caught and punished. If there are loopholes or changes needed to improve the system we will make them so people are not ripped off and can enjoy these events without paying an arm and a leg to be there.
“Fans can help by reporting tickets being sold at more than 110 per cent of their original price so we can go after the people doing the wrong thing.”
Canberra (well Belconnen anyway) is also in a lather.
Not to be outdone, the Australian Bureau of Statistics also pulled a Swiftie, lamenting that “only 1.7% of Aussies will get tickets!” in Eras dedicated piece.
Hey Swifties, you probably know All Too Well that it’s Eras tickets week… are you Ready For It?! Sorry to be the Anti-Hero but only 1.7% of the Aussie population will be The Lucky Ones to live out their Wildest Dreams, with the rest left to experience a Cruel Summer 🎸🧣🐍💖🌲🕰️ pic.twitter.com/Hid5MFETBb
— Australian Bureau of Statistics (@ABSStats) June 27, 2023
For those wondering what all the fuss is about, and when it will stop, our favourite description of why Swift resonates with so many goes to veteran live touring trade publication Pollstar (it’s like Variety but for music tours) that handed the keyboard to a pair of teenage girls to surmise their feelings.
The piece, “Two 15-Year-Olds Review Taylor Swift’s MetLife Stadium Show”, is based on Swift’s recent New York shows where tickets were reportedly re-sold for as much as $184,000.
“Swift played 44-songs which were divided into nine album sections spanning her career plus two surprise,” wrote Ida Gensler and Allegra Pinkowitz.
“And Taylor worked. Hard. She sang and sang and sang. She flawlessly danced and danced and danced. She spoke to the crowd and was genuinely grateful we were there, together with her, after five years of not touring. Several times she called us a “mega-crowd.” And, we were. Everyone in the crowd (except for a few reluctant parents) sang, danced, yelled, clapped, and cried for over 3 hours.”
And then there’s this splendidly articulate and candid reflection from the pair.
“Taylor Swift has been the soundtrack of our lives from the time we were born. We learned the lyrics to songs like “Never Getting Back Together,” before we could write our own names. As we grew, so did Taylor. Her music moved from catchy pop to deeper, more feeling pieces as our minds grew in the same way. Taylor Swift, in some ways, is as much a part of who we are and who we are becoming as our own families are, and we turn to her music when we are happy, sad and for every emotion in between.”
Think what you will. The woman is a genuine phenomenon and so is her ability to connect.
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