Staggering number of fans waiting for Swift tickets breaks record - as Ticketek repels half a billion bots

Frontier pre-sale tickets for Taylor Swift’s era tour have officially sold out, and have broken a first record in the process.

Taylor Swift during The Eras Tour at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Picture: Kevin Mazur/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Award-winning pop sensation Taylor Swift has smashed Ticketek records after more than 800,000 fans sweated it out as they desperately awaited to score tickets to her Sydney Eras Tour — with the ticketing giant having to repel half a billion bots.

More than 4 million people across Sydney and Melbourne — roughly a sixth of Australia’s population — were trying to get their hands on tickets today.

Frontier pre-sale tickets for both major cities have officially sold out after a chaotic day for fans, with some spending hours waiting for to purchase the prized pass on multiple devices.

The last of today’s tickets for Sydney was officially snapped up at 2pm on Wednesday, with Melbourne allocation of tickets exhausted two hours later.

“More than half a billion bot attempts were repelled – which come from scalpers – and a record breaking more than 4 million people across Sydney and Melbourne were trying to secure tickets,” a Ticketek spokesperson said.

Swifties that missed out on tickets still have a chance to see Tay Tay with general public sale tickets available from Friday.

Ticketek has offered a number of tips to prepare so once the tickets go on sale, you’re ready to snap them up.

First, customers are advised to check their Ticketek account and payment details are up to date and to ensure login details are handy as they’ll be required to complete the purchase.

Those going in groups are also advised to decide on the performance date, ticket price and packages they want to purchase ahead of the day so they can efficiently book tickets once through to the platform.

Prospective ticket holders are also encouraged to visit Ticketek 15 minutes prior to the tickets going on sale, and are advised to not leave the waiting lounge or refresh the browser as the page will fresh itself frequently.

Finally, once through to the event page it’s time to act fast as there is a timer and your purchase must be complete within the time frame.

Taylor Swift is bringing her Eras Tour to Australia in February next year. Picture: Shanna Madison/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The advice comes as dozens of fans were left devastated they couldn’t get their hands on the prized ticket.

The desperation of Aussie Taylor Swift fans trying to get tickets for her February tour Down Under was on display in offices, schools and homes across Sydney on Wednesday morning.

Frustrated fans declared it “almost impossible” to get tickets and news.com.au can reveal the one big mistake that may have been hindering their chances (apart from the overwhelming demand).

Lisa Given, a professor of information sciences at RMIT University in Melbourne, explained to news.com.au Ticketek was likely registering users logged in on multiple devices in one home or workplace as just one user.

Melbourne Swifties – where the presale starts at 2pm – are advised to not try to get tickets on the same Wi-Fi network as a bunch of other people, for example, at work.

Aussie fans are desperate for tickets with only three shows in Sydney and two in Melbourne. Picture: Kevin Mazur/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Ticketek’s privacy policy states its server automatically recognises and stores the visitor’s IP address.

“A lot people may not understand how an IP address works,” Prof Given said.

“If you have four devices on the Wi-Fi, it’s going to treat it as though it’s kind of one person coming in, one IP address coming in.”

She added: “If you are sitting in an office space or just in a home, if you were to check your IP address [on different devices] they would likely be the same, so you do have to strategise a bit.”

Prof Given said the best way to avoid this problem was to have one device using your phone data, a separate device using Wi-Fi, and possibly even a third using a VPN.

Another idea she suggested to increase your chances in getting tickets was to have family members in separate homes on different Wi-Fi networks try for you.

In a workplace, Prof Given said how many people were using the one IP address would depend on how many IP addresses are connected to the server.

“Say you turn off your computer and you turn it back on again, you may actually get a different IP address because a larger organisation especially may have multiple IP addresses that are going to come through on that server,” she explained.

“But if everyone has kind gone on in the morning and connected, they could well all be sitting on the same IP address.”

💜 ✨ It’s almost time!

Run through your final check list and get ready to go. We’ll be updating this post throughout the day with any important info.

Pre-sale links here 👉 https://t.co/FXi3EbjE2vpic.twitter.com/327mGGXS4W

— Ticketek Australia (@Ticketek_AU) June 27, 2023

It is no surprise both Ticketek and Taylor Swift were trending on Twitter in Australia on Wednesday, as Swifties waited hours in a queue to access tickets.

“I don’t know a single person who has been able to get through the lounge room to buy tickets for Taylor Swift yet … it’s been 40 minutes,” wrote one person.

“It’s almost 2 hours … I’m losing it,” updated another.

“The hashtag #Ticketek is like therapy rn [right now] because we all on the same boat, trying to play music like the band on titanic and drowning together,” said one fan.

The first presale for Swift’s Australian leg of The Eras Tour was on Monday with AMEX card holders having early access to the two most expensive VIP packages.

The Frontier presale – which anyone could access if they signed up for an account with Frontier Touring – went live on Wednesday, with the three Sydney shows on sale at 10am and the two Melbourne shows on sale at 2pm.

Originally published as Staggering number of fans waiting for Swift tickets breaks record - as Ticketek repels half a billion bots