Ticketmaster has claimed an early success as sales for Beyonce’s Renaissance tour passed without major incident following the controversy surrounding last year’s Taylor Swift onsale.
Hundreds of thousands of tickets became available through presales and general sales in North America and Europe from Monday. The tour will see the American star appear in more than 50 shows between May and September.
Ticketmaster was an active social media presence throughout Monday and Tuesday as tickets went on sale for many of the performances, with more to come in numerous stages until February 25. The business – which has been under pressure from US lawmakers to improve its service – tweeted out schedule reminders, status updates and waitlist announcements throughout the afternoon, periodically reassuring fans that “queues remain secure.” Additional dates were announced for various cities.
In a blog entitled ‘The Arms Race Against Abusive Ticket Scalping’, Ticketmaster outlined some of the changes it has made to restrict bots while also helping fans access tickets.
It said: “We’ve already built new defences that are working against past tactics. And we will continue to build more. Our team of engineers is standing by in real time to monitor attempted attacks and build new defences if needed.
“Fans should be aware that we may need to slow or pause an onsale to defend against a cyber attack in real time. This helps us monitor traffic and reject suspicious activity. If this occurs, we will communicate what is happening in real time so fans know what to expect.”
Ticketmaster retweeted messages from satisfied customers:
The Citi Presale today for #RENAISSANCEWorldTour was so beautiful. Took 10 minutes in the queue. Easy breezy out in 15 minutes all together. I’m really seeing @Beyonce again for my bday in HTX 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/yfGkejWEkq
— Felipe (@feelabrussel) February 7, 2023
It regularly updated the public with schedule reminders and other advice:
Tickets are still available. Fans are moving through the queue and getting their tickets.
— Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) February 7, 2023
It also reminded fans what Verified Fan can and cannot do:
Verified Fans who receive a unique access code are selected via a lottery-style process — Verified Fan is not a measure of fandom. See below for more information: pic.twitter.com/Q480awIcOk
— Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) February 7, 2023
In the UK, some users had problems with the Ticketmaster website, while others said they were kicked out of the queue, which in some cases was 500,000 strong. Three more London dates at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were added on Tuesday “due to high fan demand”.
A Ticketmaster spokesperson said: “We experienced and successfully handled an extraordinary level of demand and traffic today for Beyoncé.
“While there were never going to be enough tickets to meet demand, thousands of happy fans secured their tickets.”