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Is Taylor Swift the Anti-Hero of the Ticketmaster Debacle?

The “Eras Tour” imbroglio doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about the notorious ticketing company, but it’s cause to revisit the idea of suits versus artists. Ticketmaster, after all, functions as an agent for artists. Shouldn’t they shoulder some of the responsibility?

Taylor Swift
The Taylor Swift “Eras Tour” imbroglio doesn’t really tell us anything we didn’t know about Ticketmaster, but it’s cause to revisit that old notion of the artist who stands up to a corporate villain in the interest of fans. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
November 21, 2022

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Last week, as I watched all the fuss surrounding Taylor Swift’s first tour in five years, I grew more and more curious about what the pop star was thinking. Fans were up in arms after a breakdown in the ticketing process. Politicians were taking swings at Ticketmaster. Journalists quickly confirmed that the Department of Justice had previously opened an investigation into Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation. But why was Taylor Swift herself so quiet? Swift, after all, is one of the few people with enough leverage to change how things are done in the music business. So on Friday morning, I shot off a message to Tree Paine, Swift’s publicist, who I’ve known for a long time. This is exactly what I wrote: