Swifties: You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Taylor Swift fans, aka “Swifties,” should learn a lesson from Mick Jagger. Specifically, you can’t always get what you want.

Many Swifties are upset with Ticketmaster and are suing the company for “anti-competitive” practices regarding ticket sales for Swift’s 2023 tour. According to CNN, plaintiffs are alleging that

Ticketmaster forces [bold added] concertgoers to exclusively use its site and controlled all registration and access to Swift’s “The Eras Tour.”

The lawsuit also claims that since Ticketmaster has agreements with large stadiums, Swift “has no choice” [bold added] but to work with Ticketmaster.

Plaintiffs would like us to believe that they and Swift are victims of Ticketmaster’s coercive policies. This would certainly be a reason to be upset, if it were true. It isn’t.

Ticketmaster doesn’t and can’t force anyone to use its service. It doesn’t and can’t force stadiums to have exclusivity agreements. It doesn’t and can’t force performing artists to play only at venues to which it has exclusivity agreements. In other words, Ticketmaster doesn’t and can’t force anyone to do anything. Both Swift and her fans have choices.

On the first day that tickets for the tour went on sale last November, millions of fans went to the Ticketmaster website. The company has stated that the “unprecedented traffic” crashed its site. Countless fans spent hours trying to purchase tickets, often to no avail. And this is the source of the anger being directed at Ticketmaster.

It is understandable that Swifties are disappointed that they were unable to purchase tickets. To the plaintiffs, that disappointment is evidence that somebody did something wrong and their rights were violated. To the plaintiffs, if you can’t get what you want, then you should sue. If you can’t get what you want, then force someone to provide it.

The plaintiffs are asking for damages of $2,500 each. Which means, they want to use actual coercion to force Ticketmaster to compensate them for their disappointment. Mick Jagger was right. You can’t always get what you want. Swifties would add, but if you sue sometimes you might find you get what you need.