In a viral TikTok video, a Lana Del Rey fan recounts his difficult experience trying to get concert tickets through Ticketmaster. After waiting in a virtual queue, he says he was accused of being a bot and blocked from the site.
In the clip, Mordecai Nuccio (@mordecainuccio), a photographer and videographer based in Queens, explains that they got into their Ticketmaster account early and had their payments set up and ready to go. At 9:48 am, there were more than 2,000 people ahead of him, according to the screenshot Nuccio shared.
Tangentially, Nuccio’s friends were also trying to buy tickets, but as soon as they went to pay, their tickets disappeared.
“They would select seats, and they would keep disappearing. Why is this? Because of bots,” Nuccio says.
He adds that when the concert was announced, thousands of people shelled out money for bots to purchase their tickets with “no guarantee” that they’d actually score tickets.
About an hour into waiting, Nuccio was finally at the front of the line. But when his turn arrived, he was hit with an error page that essentially accused him of being a bot and blocked him from the purchase.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that people who wake up early, have the funds by the grace of goodness to be able to afford to go to a concert like Lana’s for face-value tickets, cannot even go,” Nuccio says in the clip.
Nuccio noted that while it usually feels like The Hunger Games trying to get tickets, he’s usually successful. But it has become increasingly more difficult to get tickets to see artists live.
@mordecainuccio This is so bitter sweet… going to see #LanaDelRey in concert but at what cost… these bots are absolutely out of control and I really dont think #ticketmaster should be allowed to do this anynmore. Nor should #stubhub #seatgeek #vividseats and more 🎟️ the fact I was told I wasnt a human when half the sales went to automated systems is so messed up… #lanadelreytour #lanadelreytour2023 #lanadelreytickets #ldrconcert #lanafansbelike #ticketmasterscammers #seatgeekscam #ticketsales #livenation #livenationpartner #lanadelreytok #didyouknowthattheresatunelunderoceanblvd #nfrlana #honeymoonlanadelrey #ultraviolencelanadelrey #paradiselanadelrey #makeitmakesense #🎟️ #concertvenues #concerttickets #concerttips #pricegouging #greenscreen ♬ Radio – Lana Del Rey
“Meanwhile, there are thousands of bots snatching up tickets from actual human beings,” he says. “Ticketmaster, make it make sense. This is ridiculous.”
Toward the end of the video, Nuccio argues that there needs to be reform around the ticket-buying process so that real concertgoers are able to get their hands on face-value tickets instead of paying incredible resale upcharges.
Fans have been calling out Ticketmaster for years and calling for reform, with complaints rising this summer due to the difficulty of getting a Taylor Swift concert ticket.
A federal lawsuit was filed against Ticketmaster in July, accusing the company of engaging in anti-competitive and monopolistic practices in the live music industry, per CBS. The lawsuit was largely spurred by fans issues accessing tickets to Swift’s Eras Tour.
@beabellle so jelous of anyone who got a ticket #lanadelrey #lanatok #ticketmaster #lanadelreytour ♬ original sound – abigail
In the video, Nuccio shares that his friend was able to get their group of four tickets for a total of about $400. Those same seats were being resold for $400 each.
The video is nearing half a million views and has nearly 3,500 comments as of Wednesday morning.
“This is so bitter sweet… going to see #LanaDelRey in concert but at what cost… these bots are absolutely out of control and I really dont think #ticketmaster should be allowed to do this anynmore. Nor should #stubhub #seatgeek #vividseats and more the fact I was told I wasnt a human when half the sales went to automated systems is so messed up…” he wrote in the caption.
Commenters were largely in agreeance and shared their own perspectives.
“I paid 1,149$ for two tickets first row with a pit in front, that’s two or more of my paychecks And I’ve been up since 6am on the site waiting,” a top comment read.
“Yup $45 lawn seats were going at $300 for Austin Tx,” a person said.
“I had TWO tickets for 99 was adding them to my cart and BOOM disappeared, the last ones left were like 488 for one,” another added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Ticketmaster via email.
In an email to the Daily Dot, Nuccio shared his disappointment at the lack of accessibility of the tickets.
“Thousands of fans in smaller cities and towns were visibly disappointed that bots were used to buy up tickets in milliseconds for resale that they weren’t able to afford, making an accessible venue for Lana, that some fans have waited a decade for, inaccessible financially,” he wrote. “Ticket carts had no timers, people who were told they were “bots” weren’t offered captchas to verify their identity.”
“It broke me as a fan to know that so many people were excited to see her that couldn’t,” he continued, “and the ones that are going to see her most of them paid Astronomical prices that they really couldn’t afford just to be able to see Lana.”
He also had several solutions to combat bots.
“I believe the Ticketmaster and other apps need to be regulated,” he urged. “For these reasons, they can implement Blockchain technology to help combat bots. They could do ticket sale timers for carts to make sure people have valid time to be able to purchase our tickets when they have waited in queue. And moving forward, it seems people do desire to go back in person to buy tickets.”
