State Champ Radio Touring
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Fans buying tickets to upcoming Wu-Tang Clan and De La Soul tours now have easy access to custom messages from the RZA, the GZA and other members of each outfit via a new partnership between Ticketmaster and HiNOTE. The ticketing giant has partnered with the platform, which allows fans to request custom videos from artists […]
Miley Cyrus meant what she said about not wanting to tour anymore. After some fans were left disappointed when she revealed in a recent interview that she has no plans to hit the road, the pop star has now posted a message to social media doubling down and shedding light on her decision. “For clarity […]
SeatGeek executives were scrambling to recover from an unforced error earlier this month when two discount codes leaked on social media granting users $500 discounts on the secondary ticketing marketplace. After about a half-hour of frenzied buying, the ticket resale site was forced to cancel thousands of sales and cover costs incurred by untold numbers of brokers.
The source of those troublesome codes? SeatGeek created the codes for a business conference for Major League Baseball box office managers and ticketing staff, sources tell Billboard — three months after SeatGeek signed a reported $100 million, five-year deal to take over from rival StubHub as the league’s official ticket reseller.
The $500 discount codes — “MLB1” and “MLB2” — were originally given out as prizes for a team building exercise during the event on May 3 at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home to the Texas Rangers. Known to most in the sports ticketing industry as the Baseball Ticketing and Marketing Meetings, the summit is a typically low key affair where baseball ticketing staff come together to network, share ideas and meet with league vendors. SeatGeek representatives were present at the meeting to discuss their new agreement with the league, according to multiple sources. The two discount codes did not include any expiration date or limit on how many times they could be used.
Nine days after the summit, the codes leaked onto the internet and quickly spread across social media. The first instance of the code sharing on Twitter on May 12 at 11:29 p.m. EST appears to have come from an account linked to a sports gambler named Drew Morgan, writing, “I just got 2 tickets to 2 different Steelers games 100% free on SeatGeek. Sounds too good to be true but there was zero catch at all.”
Holy shit I just got 2 tickets to 2 different Steelers games 100% free on Seat Geek. Sounds too good to be true but there was zero catch at all 🤯Use codes MLB1 or MLB2 for a $500 discount on the tickets. I have no incentive at all to promote this. My friend told me about… pic.twitter.com/8G6ELGHPkn— Drew Morgan (@DMProps) May 13, 2023
Three minutes later, an account calling itself “Lord Restock” with 168,000 followers posted the codes, kicking off a frenzy of fans using the codes to buy tickets to sporting events, SZA concerts and more.
Around midnight, SeatGeek staff noticed the frenzied use of the $500 discount code and took the SeatGeek site offline to investigate what was happening. The site remained offline for several hours before the issue with the codes was identified and the codes were deactivated.
A SeatGeek spokesperson declined to comment on specifics about the code leaks, but told Billboard in a statement, “Last week, some fans made purchases on our site using an ineligible promo code that was wrongfully distributed without authorization. Tickets acquired via these purchases are not valid and we are working to resolve each situation accordingly.”
Officials with Major League Baseball did not respond to Billboard’s inquiries about the SeatGeek ticket codes and how they leaked online.
In the days following, SeatGeek staff began contacting ticket sellers on the site, laying out plans to cancel any transactions that used the leaked discount codes, refund any money that was spent in transactions using the codes and claw back any tickets possible before they reached fans.
“At this stage, we have been able to contain the impact to SeatGeek, but that came at the cost of an operational burden that you have all helped us to shoulder,” company co-founder Russ D’Souza wrote in an email to ticket broker Randall Smith, CEO of America’s Top Tix, and obtained by Billboard.
SeatGeek operates as both a primary ticketing site for a number of sports teams, as well as a massive secondary ticketing site where tens of thousands of brokers list tickets for resale for concerts, sporting events and festivals. The company implemented a triage system to respond to the code leak, where sales made for teams that use the SeatGeek ticketing system could easily be canceled and reversed. Sales for tickets that haven’t been delivered yet will also be canceled.
Tickets originally issued by rival companies like Ticketmaster, however, were more difficult to claw back. While Ticketmaster technology does allow resellers to digitally transfer tickets from seller to buyer – a process SeatGeek can automate to occur immediately after a sale on its site is made – it can’t transfer the ticket back to the seller if an error is discovered. Because of this, SeatGeek is now covering any losses incurred by brokers who now must reselling tickets issued by Ticketmaster and other services.
As a result, dozens and maybe hundreds of fans who received Ticketmaster-issued tickets using the SeatGeek discount code are now in possession of tickets that can’t be canceled. Since the code was discovered and taken down, many of these fans have taken to Twitter asking other fans if they think the tickets are still valid.
Brokers on the site are also angry, saying SeatGeek took too long to respond to the crisis and should have to pay the same 100% fine it charges its own sellers when customer service mistakes are made.
“If a broker makes an error and cancels an order, they are penalized. If the exchange that dings you makes an error, they unilaterally effectuate a mutual cancelation without consent of the broker,” one reseller wrote on a forum for brokers. “It is a totally one-sided relationship, and I really hope customers, brokers, or both bring a well-deserved class action against SG.”
SeatGeek is the second largest ticket resale site in the United States and last year raised $238 million in Series E funding. A recently abandoned effort to take the company public valued it at $1.35 billion.
KISS‘ farewell End of the Road tour has hit a snag. The greasepaint rockers were slated to kick off the U.K. portion of the outing on June 3 at Home Park Stadium in Plymouth, but on Tuesday the venue announced that the show has been canceled. “Sadly, KISS and Robomagic, the show’s promoter, have today announced that they […]
Fans of Conway the Machine will have to wait a little longer to see him on stage again after the Buffalo MC revealed that he is postponing his forthcoming tour due to his leg injuries. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “The results are in,” he wrote […]
Veeps, the Live Nation-owned streaming platform has named Eileen Mercolino as its first chief marketing officer. She joins Veeps most recently from SPIN where she served as CMO and has held a number of senior marketing and partnership roles at leading entertainment brands including The Walt Disney company, festival producer Danny Wimmer Presents, Hard Rock […]
Niall Horan is getting ready to hit the road next year. The Voice season 23 coach revealed a full set of 2024 tour dates on Monday (May 22) that will seeing him touring across the United Kingdom, Europe and North America starting in February.
“I am beyond thrilled to announce The Show Live On Tour 2024 ! It’s been far too long and I can’t wait to see your beautiful faces,” he tweeted. “Tickets go on sale Friday, June 2 at 10am local. There are still a couple more dates coming so if you don’t see a show near you listed, stay tuned. Album pre-order and Citi/AAdvantage presale begins May 30 Newsletter presale begins May 31 TikTok presale begins June 1.”
The Twitter post also included a handwritten letter from the former One Direction member, which shared his hopes for the upcoming concert dates. “I want to add this, I really want my show to be a place of pure joy and somewhere you can come to escape and let loose. A place you can truly be yourself,” he wrote, adding that Asia, Mexico and South America dates can expect dates soon.
The Show Live On Tour will kick off in Belfast, Ireland, on Feb. 21, and will continue throughout the U.K. and Europe until March 27. Horan will then embark on the Australia and New Zealand leg of the tour between April 16 to May 3, before heading to the U.S. on May 29, starting with a stop in Hollywood, Fla. Horan will make stops in Philadelphia, New York, Nashville, Toronto and more before concluding the tour in Phoenix on July 31.
The Show will be released on June 9. See the official tour poster and Horan’s message about The Show Live On Tour below.
I am beyond thrilled to announce The Show Live On Tour 2024 ! It’s been far too long and I can’t wait to see your beautiful faces. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 2 at 10am local. There are still a couple more dates coming so if you don’t see a show near you listed, stay tuned.… pic.twitter.com/czFRL5V4tg— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) May 22, 2023
NIALL HORAN – “The Show” LIVE ON TOUR 20242/21/24 – Belfast, UK – SSE Arena Belfast2/23/24 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena2/27/24 – Birmingham, UK – Resorts World Arena3/1/24 – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley3/4/24 – Cardiff, UK – Cardiff International Arena3/5/24 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena3/7/24 – Antwerp, BE – Lotto Arena3/8/24 – Paris, FR – Zénith3/11/24 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena3/12/24 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena3/15/24 – Stockholm, SE – Hovet Ice Hall3/18/24 – Lodz, PL – Atlas Arena3/20/24 – Munich, DE – Olympiahalle3/21/24 – Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum3/23/24 – Madrid, ES – WiZink Center3/26/24 – Düsseldorf, DE – PSD Bank Dome3/27/24 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome4/26/24 – Auckland, New Zealand – Spark Arena4/28/24 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre5/1/24 – Sydney, Australia – Quodos Bank Arena5/3/24 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena5/29/24 – Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Hard Rock Live5/31/24 – Tampa, Fla. – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre6/3/24 – Nashville, Tenn. – Bridgestone Arena6/7/24 – Raleigh, N.C. – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek6/8/24 – Bristow, Va. – Jiffy Lube Live6/11/24 – Philadelphia, Penn. – Mann Center for the Performing Arts6/14/24 – New York, N.Y. – Madison Square Garden6/15/24 – Mansfield, Mass. – Xfinity Center6/18/24 – Bridgeport, Conn. – Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater6/19/24 – Bangor, Maine – Maine Savings Amphitheater6/21/24 – Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – Saratoga Performing Arts Center6/22/24 – Buffalo, N.Y. – Darien Lake Amphitheater6/25/24 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Riverbend Music Center6/26/24 – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – Blossom Music Center6/28/24 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena7/7/24 – St. Paul, Minn. – Xcel Energy Center7/9/24 – Tinley Park, Ill. – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre7/10/24 – Clarkston, Mich. – Pine Knob Music Theatre7/12/24 – Maryland Heights, Mo. – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre7/16/24 – Kansas City, Mo. – Starlight Theatre7/17/24 – Rogers, Ark. – Walmart AMP7/19/24 – Denver, Colo. – Ball Arena7/20/24 – Salt Lake City, Utag – USANA Amphitheatre7/23/24 – Auburn, Wash. – White River Amphitheatre7/24/24 – Ridgefield, Wash. – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater7/26/24 – Mountain View, Calif. – Shoreline Amphitheatre7/27/24 – Inglewood, Calif. – The Kia Forum7/30/24 – Chula Vista, Calif. – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre7/31/24 – Phoenix, Ariz. – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
You could say that Taylor Swift‘s piano at the latest Eras Tour Show was Speak Now‘s track 12 — “Haunted.”
The pop star was left open-mouthed in shock Sunday (May 21) when, upon sitting down to perform that night’s second surprise song, her acoustic piano started playing out notes without her touching them, as if a phantom player had started banging on the keys. “Do you hear that?!” Swift asked fans at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., looking aghast. “Is that happening for you, too?”
At each Eras show, the musician has been playing two different surprise songs plucked randomly from her 10-album discography, one on guitar followed by one on piano. But the ghostly mixup made the usual routine impossible Sunday night. “I’m just gonna do another song on guitar — that’s insane,” Swift said after playing “I Think He Knows” from Lover.
Before proceeding to play an unplanned guitar rendition of surprise song No. 2, “Red,” the 12-time Grammy winner explained what she believed to be the cause of the malfunction: “So it rained a lot last night, like a monsoon.”
“Literally, it was like a water park under the stage,” she continued, recalling that her fingers were so pruned, it was difficult to play guitar the night before. “This has clearly broken my keyboard. It was literally underwater — I don’t know how any of the instruments were working last night.”
Indeed, Swift and her fans at Saturday night’s (May 20) show in Gillette Stadium endured ceaseless rainstorms throughout the three-hour show. But while her piano may have caught a cold as a result, the downpour didn’t stop Swift from having an excellent time. The singer shared that night that she’d “never been this happy in my life” and penned a tribute to the rain show afterward on Instagram.
“Last night we all danced together in the rain for THE ENTIRE 3.5 HOUR SHOW in foxy Foxborough MA!!” she posted the next day. “We’ve had rain shows at Gillette Stadium before but this was a full on deluge that never let up, I just want to thank that iconic crowd!! Love you so much you have no idea.”
Watch Taylor Swift react to her haunted keyboard before playing “Red” on guitar below:
Maluma is hitting the road this year, unveiling the 2023 dates for the North American leg of his Don Juan World Tour.
On a recent Instagram post, the Colombian artist shared a set of steamy shirtless, poolside photos and let his 63 million followers know he was “calentando pa’ la gira” (warming up for the tour). On Monday (May 22), it was officially announced that he will embark on a 30-city stint across the U.S.
Produced by CMN (Cardenas Marketing Network), the Don Juan U.S. Tour — named after his upcoming studio album — will kick off Aug. 31 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., and wrap on Nov. 14 in Miami’s Kaseya Center. In between, he will make stops in Las Vegas, Houston, New York, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and Orlando, to name a few.
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“I am so excited to return to arenas around the U.S. this fall,” the artist born Juan Luis Londoño Arias said in a press statement. “I took a year off from touring to focus on perfecting what I feel is the best album of my career, Don Juan. I can’t wait to perform the new songs from the album for my fans for the very first time alongside my greatest hits in what I consider to be my most ambitious concert production yet. I’ve waited to give my fans a music and concert experience unlike any other and I expect the Don Juan U.S. Tour to be an exhilarating experience that they’ll never forget!”
The Don Juan World Tour follows his successful Papi Juancho World Tour, which traveled across the United States, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East from 2021 to 2022. The also CMN-produced trek, where the “Felices Los 4” singer serenaded fans from the in-the-round or 360-style stage, grossed $24,488,668, landing at No. 14 in Billboard’s Top Tours of 2021 list.
Pre-sale tickets for the 2023 Don Juan Tour begin at 10 a.m. (local time) on May 25; general tickets are at 10 a.m. (local time) on May 26 via www.cmnevents.com.
See the confirmed dates and cities below:
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Tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour are being protected by some of the most advanced ticketing technology ever created, but it’s done little to stop some Swifties from falling victim to fraud.
With what’s likely to be the year’s most in-demand tour has come a wave of online scams that mix high-tech identity theft with low-tech social engineering to target frustrated fans unable to buy tickets during the initial sale in November. Now ticket prices are going for up to 10-times face value on secondary sites and many fans are desperately looking for more affordable options. That’s also leaving them vulnerable to too-good-to-be-true swindlers selling fake tickets. In many cases, the fans don’t even realize they were ripped off until they get to the show.
Nationwide, consumer fraud was up 30% in 2022 over 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission, costing consumers $8.8 billion. Fake ticket scams fall under what the FTC labels as “imposter scams,” second in total cost only to investor scams according to the FTC, which notes that individuals aged 30-39 are the most likely to be defrauded in 2023 with social media sites listed as the most common place where fraud occurs. The targeting of Taylor Swift fans and offering cheap tickets the seller doesn’t have (and then disappearing on the buyer after they send over the money) is in part due to enormous publicity around the tour and the huge demand for tickets and low supply.
“Con artists will seize any opportunity to rip people off and as soon as the tours for Taylor Swift or artists Beyoncé or The Cure were even announced, scammers trying to figure out ways to capitalize on people’s desperation to get tickets,” says Teresa Murray, a consumer watchdog with the Denver-based Public Interest Research Group. Murray says her group saw an uptick in forged barcodes, fake websites and spoofs on legitimate sights like StubHub and Ticketmaster popping up hoping to profit off the frenzy around the Eras tour.
Fans who have fallen victim to Taylor Swift ticket fraud often say they are lured into the scam through a post on Facebook, listed on regional group pages from seemingly legitimate accounts offering to sell tickets for an upcoming Swift show below the current asking price on secondary ticket markets.
“When you have people who are desperate [to buy tickets] and vulnerable to fraud, they tend to suspend their common sense and make decisions they wouldn’t normally make,” says Murray, adding that this type of fraud is perpetrated by both “people living in their mom’s basement” and sophisticated criminal groups operating in an organized manner.
What victims do not realize is that instead of talking to person living in their city, they are often talking to a hacker who has recently taken over someone’s Facebook account to appear like a real person with ties in the community. After some back and forth, the scammer convinces the victim to send them money though a cash app like Venmo or Zelle in exchange for tickets that either never arrive or are obvious fakes.
This increase in fraud is happening against a backdrop of transformative technology at Ticketmaster, deployed at a large scale for the Eras tour with the potential to drastically reduce and even eliminate most instances of ticket fraud. Whereas it used to be fraudsters could buy a print-at-home ticket and then sell multiple copies of that, Ticketmaster is now employing its Safetix technology for Swift’s tour and others to issue digital tickets that live exclusively within the Ticketmaster app and are impossible to duplicate in this way. Safetix creates an entire digital ecosystem around the life of the ticket, from its original purchase, through resale and up until the ticket is redeemed on the night of the show. The scam Swift fans describe operates completely outside of that ecosystem, without any protections for consumers.
For scammers, demanding payment upfront is a low-tech way to defeat an otherwise sophisticated security system. The only way to curb this type of fraud, Murray says, is to educate fans on how digital tickets work. Much of Ticketmaster’s consumer education efforts have focused on Swift fans who successfully bought tickets and need to know how to load tickets into their accounts, transfer them to friends and redeem the tickets on show night. While this effort to educate fans is important, it does little to inform fans who were unable to buy during the public sale so that they are better equipped to avoid being sold fake tickets when they attempt to buy secondary tickets
Murray recommends only purchasing resale tickets from official sellers with a clearly visible fan guarantee listed on their site, to only use credit cards (not debit cards) and to match up the seats being sold with a seat map of the venue to verify the seats and rows actually exist.
“Often times the con artists don’t bother to check if the seating section, row and seat numbers they claim to hold tickets for actually exist on a seat map,” Murray says. “A little research on your own might help you determine if the tickets being offered actually exist.”
