Beyoncé fans brace for North America pre-sale with Ticketmaster under scrutiny

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The first batch of tickets for the North American dates of Beyoncé’s world tour will go on sale on Monday, with demand expected to be huge.

The star, who won a record-breaking 32nd Grammy Award on Sunday, has not held a solo tour since 2016.

It is seen as the first major test for Ticketmaster since the company’s system was overwhelmed by demand for Taylor Swift tickets late last year.

Ticketmaster apologised to Swift and her fans last month.

The company says it has changed its process for the North American legs of Beyoncé’s 43-date Renaissance tour.

Fans were asked to register for Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan process – which the company says will filter out touts – before the first pre-sale opens on Monday.

The deadline to register was Sunday, and those that managed to do so ahead of time will be entered into a “lottery-style process” if demand outstrips the number of available tickets.

Some who registered will be placed on a waiting list, the company said.

If there are remaining tickets after those on the waiting list have been offered a chance to buy, then they will go on general sale.

Some fans were delighted on Sunday night after receiving an access code to the pre-sale. One fan wrote: “No way I actually got a Beyoncé verified fan code.”

Another shared his wife’s happiness:

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Beyoncé will kick-off her North American dates in Toronto on 8 July, playing regular shows until her final date in New Orleans on 27 September.

Politicians in the US, who are already investigating Ticketmaster over the fumbled sale of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, will be closely watching how the systems cope with Beyoncé’s concerts.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing last month to investigate a “lack of competition” in the ticketing industry following the Taylor Swift problems.

The committee earlier tweeted “we’re watching” at Ticketmaster in response to a post announcing the Beyoncé tour.

The company apologised during the congressional hearing. “We need to do better and we will,” Joe Berchtold, president of Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, said.

Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010, has repeatedly faced criticism from fans and politicians, who say it has too much control over the live music market and artificially inflates the cost of tickets with fees and service charges.

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