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Taylor Swift Fans Want Ticketmaster Cancelled

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Taylor Swift Fans Want Ticketmaster Cancelled

Taylor Swift’s next US concert tour tickets have yet to go on sale to the general public, but many fans hoping to see her in concert have already been disappointed by Ticketmaster.

Nancy Abulmagd, a mother of an 11-year-old daughter and friends, spent hours in a virtual line with thousands of other people, hoping to secure seats for her daughter and friends, only to have the website crash repeatedly and eventually turn her away empty-handed.

And Nancy was one of the lucky ones; she had won a lottery that allowed “verified fans” to participate in a four-day pre-sale before the general public.

“I got so close three or four times, and the website broke; it was agony,” the 41-year-old New Jersey resident says. “It was a deflating experience that messed with your emotions and sucked up your entire day.”

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Nancy hoped to obtain Taylor Swift tickets for her 11-year-old daughter and friends.

The company selling the tickets, Ticketmaster, has stated that the issues are due to “historically unprecedented demand” for the singer, who first appeared on the scene in 2006 and has provided a steady stream of hits exploring fame and romantic entanglements.

Midnights, her most recent album, has topped the charts worldwide.

Millions of Swifties, as her fans are known, competed for tickets to her 52-city US tour during the pre-sale, with hundreds of thousands securing seats, according to Ticketmaster.

The company claims that the pre-sale system will help prevent ticket touts – known as scalpers in the United States – and bots from scooping up seats.

However, the process flaws have reignited rage against the company, which has long been accused of abusing its clout in the industry.

In an episode earlier this year, comedian John Oliver called it “one of the most hated companies on the planet,” blaming it for the exorbitant prices, fees, and scarcity of tickets for concerts and other events.

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“You’re kind of at their mercy,” Nancy said, adding that Ticketmaster could have better organized the sales given the anticipated high demand for Taylor Swift tickets.

In the 1990s, Pearl Jam expressed concerns about Ticketmaster’s role as the primary ticket seller.

Since then, the company’s power has only grown. It purchased Live Nation in 2010, which operates many of the country’s event venues and has an artist management division.

Democratic lawmakers in the United States, who have called for the merger to be reversed, chimed in again amid the chaos of Taylor Swift’s pre-sale.

“Ticketmaster’s excessive wait times and fees are completely unacceptable, as seen with today’s @taylorswift13 tickets, and are a symptom of a larger problem,” wrote House Competition and Antitrust Committee Chairman David Cicilline. “It’s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is a monopoly unchecked.”

“Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, that its merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and that they need to be reigned in,” wrote left-wing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “Split them up.”

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the Taylor Swift scandal.

Ticketmaster is already subject to government oversight, which was imposed when the LiveNation acquisition was approved.

After regulators discovered that the firm had violated the terms of the agreement, the oversight was extended a few years ago.

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Last month, US President Joe Biden, who has expressed concern that monopolies are becoming more common in the economy, stated that his administration would investigate concert ticket fees.

Krista Brown, the senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project, is part of a coalition of artists and others who called on the government to break up Ticketmaster last month.

She hoped that the outpouring of rage from Taylor Swift’s massive fan base would pressure the administration to act.

“If there were healthy competition in this space, [these issues] would simply not exist, and customers or fans would have other services to turn to,” she said. “You probably wouldn’t have sites crashing… This is what happens when you only have one supplier.”

But whether that will be of any comfort to fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift in concert remains to be seen.

Before the general public can try again, the company is restricting purchases to people who have credit cards from Capital One, the company that is sponsoring Taylor Swift’s tour.

Ticketmaster did not respond to a BBC inquiry about how many tickets were expected to be available.

Swift has added 25 shows to her tour in response to overwhelming demand and has occasionally picked fights with corporate behemoths, and has remained silent on the matter thus far.

Nancy plans to try again as a member of the general public on Friday. However, she is not optimistic.

Source: BBC, VOR News

Geoff Thomas is a seasoned staff writer at VORNews, a reputable online publication. With his sharp writing skills and deep understanding of SEO, he consistently delivers high-quality, engaging content that resonates with readers. Thomas' articles are well-researched, informative, and written in a clear, concise style that keeps audiences hooked. His ability to craft compelling narratives while seamlessly incorporating relevant keywords has made him a valuable asset to the VORNews team.

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Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

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Nashville, Tennessee – Morgan Wallen, a country music singer facing charges coming in part from allegations that he tossed a chair off the rooftop of a six-story club, says he is “not proud” of his actions and accepts responsibility.

The “One Thing at a Time” singer took to social media Friday night to comment to his arrest in Nashville two weeks earlier. According to court documents, he was charged with three felony charges of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 3.

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Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

According to an arrest document, the chair at Chief’s pub landed about 3 feet (1 meter) from officers, who spoke with witnesses and checked CCTV footage. Witnesses informed police that they saw Wallen take up a chair, throw it over the roof, and laugh about it. Wallen was arrested early on April 8 and later freed.

“I didn’t feel comfortable checking in publicly until I had made apologies with some people. I’ve contacted Nashville police enforcement, my family, and the friendly staff at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my actions, and I accept responsibility,” Wallen stated on X (previously Twitter).

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Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

Wallen, one of the most well-known artists in contemporary country music, is now on a stadium tour that includes a concert on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.

“I have the greatest regard for the cops who labor every day to keep us all safe. “There will be no changes to my tour,” his reply read, signed “-MW.”

The “One Thing at a Time” album topped the Billboard 200 for 16 weeks in 2023 and was the best-selling album in the United States last year. The top ten successes from the album included “Last Night,” “You Proof,” and “Thinkin’ Bout Me.”

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Recently Arrested Morgan Wallen Says He’s “Not Proud” Of Behavior

In 2021, the country artist was suspended indefinitely by his label when a video surfaced showing him uttering a racial slur. He was arrested in 2020 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct after being booted out of Kid Rock’s downtown Nashville bar.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

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Dickey Betts, a guitarist and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band, has died, according to a family statement released to CNN on Thursday by his longtime manager.

Betts was eighty.

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Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

“It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the Betts family announces the peaceful passing of Forrest Richard ‘Dickey’ Betts,” according to the statement. “The well-known performer, songwriter, bandleader, and family patriarch passed away this morning at his home in Osprey, Florida, with his family by his side. Dickey was larger than life, and his absence will be felt around the world. During this terrible time, the family requests prayers and respect for their privacy in the coming days. More information will be provided at the proper time.”

Betts’ manager, David Spero, told Rolling Stone that the guitarist had cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease.

Betts, who was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, grew up listening to bluegrass, country music, and, subsequently, rock & roll. Betts, bass guitarist Berry Oakley, drummers Butch Trucks and Jaimoe, and brothers Gregg and Duane Allman formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969, and are credited with helping create the sound and genre of Southern rock in the 1960s and 1970s.

Betts composed and sung the band’s biggest song, “Ramblin’ Man.” Initially, he created the song with the intention of having another artist sing it.

“I was going to send ‘Ramblin’ Man’ to Johnny Cash,” Betts stated in 2020, later adding that he “thought it was a great song for him.”

“But everyone liked the song. Even my father enjoyed the song before we recorded it or anything. And I’m thinking I’ll email this to Johnny Cash and see if he wants to perform it,” he added. “The producer (Johnny Sandlin) mentioned that we needed another song for the record and asked if I had any. I explained, ‘Well, I got one, but I was going to send it to Nashville for Cash to record.’ He said, ‘Let’s hear it. And then, ‘No! We gotta do it.'”

Betts also wrote the popular Allman Brothers songs “Blue Sky” and “Jessica.”

Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971, and Oakley died in a motorcycle crash the following year. Betts and Gregg Allman became the band’s leaders, but creative disputes and substance misuse prompted the group to split up and reform several times.

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Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

Cameron Crowe, then 16, followed the Allman Brothers Band on tour in 1973 for a Rolling Stone cover story that would later serve as the basis for Crowe’s Oscar-winning 2000 film “Almost Famous.” In 2017, Crowe described Billy Crudup’s key rock star character as “a tribute” to Betts.

In an email to CNN later that day, Crowe referred to Betts as “a guitarist for the ages, the musical glue that held together The Allman Brothers Band for many years.”

“Dickey’s quiet warmth, and his timeless contribution to American music was a big inspiration for our film,” said the writer-director.

Betts quit the Allman Brothers Band in a widely publicized separation in 2000. While the band continued to tour for nearly 15 years and issued one more studio album, Betts performed with his Great Southern ensemble, which included his son Duane, and released another studio album of new songs. Betts retired in 2014.

Also on Friday, the Allman Brothers Band issued an official statement, stating that Betts’ “extraordinary guitar playing alongside guitarist Duane Allman created a unique dual guitar signature sound that became the signature sound of the genre known as Southern Rock.”

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Rolling stone – VOR News Image

Dickey Betts, Co-Founder Of The Allman Brothers Band, Dead At 80

“He was passionate in life, be it music, songwriting, fishing, hunting, boating, golf, karate or boxing,” the statement went on to say. “Dickey was all in on and excelled at anything that caught his attention.”

When asked what he enjoyed most about music, Betts told the Sarasota Herald Tribune in 2020 that it was the impact it had on his listeners.

“I like the crowds mainly, and what the music did for them,” he went on to say. “They enjoyed the music more than I did. I just love how the crowd can drift off into another universe during a concert.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

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Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs On Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

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NEW YORK — Could there be a Taylor Swift new album release without any added surprises?

No.

On Friday, the pop star released her 11th album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which is an amalgamation of her previous work and reflects the artist who, at the height of her powers, has spent the last few years re-recording her life’s work and touring it, filtered through synth-pop anthems, breakup ballads, provocative and matured considerations.

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Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs On Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

But it was midnight. At 2 a.m. Eastern, she released “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” which included 15 new songs.

“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment,” Swift wrote in an Instagram caption. “And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”

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Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs On Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

The songs are a natural continuation of the first half of the album, with many returning to her “evermore” and “folklore” style, aided by her partner Aaron Dessner.

Swift has surprised her fans before, and she has surely done so with a surprise album release. A few months after “folklore” was released in 2020, she revealed that “evermore” will be available at midnight on the same day. Speaking of midnight, she released a “3am” edition of “Midnights” with seven new tracks in 2022, just a few hours after the original release.

Taylor Swift’s album “The Tortured Poets Department” is now available.

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Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs On Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

Music Writer Maria Sherman describes it as “an amalgamation of an artist who has spent the last few years re-recording her life’s work and touring its material, filtered through synth-pop anthems, breakup ballads, provocative and matured subject matter.”

Swift revealed a surprise two hours after the album’s release: 15 more tracks.

Swift’s first original album since her record-breaking Eras Tour debuted last year.

SOURCE – (AP)

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