Taylor Swift resale tour ticket prices soar to $42,000 after Ticketmaster crashes

Millions of Taylor Swift fans have swarmed the Ticketmaster website, causing periodic outages and seeing resellers aiming to fetch up to US$28,350 ($42,000) per ticket for her US stadium tour.

Key points: Taylor Swift's USA concert tickets have soared to $42,000 on resale sites

Taylor Swift's USA concert tickets have soared to $42,000 on resale sites Ticketmaster says its website is facing 'historically unprecedented demand'

Ticketmaster says its website is facing 'historically unprecedented demand' Fans crashed the Ticketmaster website on the first day of sales

Fans flocked online for a second day, looking to score seats to the Anti-Hero singer's first tour in five years.

Pre-sales began on Tuesday and brought millions of people to the Ticketmaster website, causing outages and long wait times.

A new round of Swift ticket pre-sales continued the following day, with fewer complaints on social media.

Asking prices on resale sites like StuHub were offering seats for an April show in Florida, ranging from $US338 ($500) to $US28,350 ($42,000) each.

Fans reported waiting in online queues for up to eight hours on the first day of sales to purchase tickets that cost between $US49 ($73) and $US449 ($666) each.

Ticketmaster — which is owned by Live Nation Entertainment LYV.N — tweeted that there had been "historically unprecedented demand" for Swift's The Eras Tour, her first since 2018.

Fans flooding ticketing sites described crashes, outages, and other snafus, and many who were granted pre-sale codes ultimately could not buy tickets.

"I'm a failure as a father," wrote Dave Pell, author of the popular NextDraft newsletter.

"The one time my daughter really needed me to come through for her, I ended up on the outside looking in, banished to the barren badlands of the Taylor Swift ticket waiting list wasteland," he said.

Some fans said they took a day off work and felt the process should have gone more smoothly.

A Ticketmaster spokesperson said the number of people who registered for the early sale was more than twice the number of tickets available.

There's no avoiding Ticketmaster if you want to attend an event.

America's ticketing industry, which the company Ticketmaster overwhelmingly dominates, has for years left concertgoers frustrated by hidden fees, soaring costs and limited tickets due to pre-sales.

The havoc spurred comment from a number of politicians, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Representative David Cicilline.

"@Ticketmaster's excessive wait times and fees are completely unacceptable, as seen with today's @taylorswift13 tickets,)" Cicilline wrote on Twitter.

He added that the 2010 merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which had Justice Department approval, should not have been allowed.

"It’s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is an unchecked monopoly."

Taylor Swift's US tour is scheduled to start in March and end in August, with international dates to be announced.

Swift released her latest album, the pop record Midnights, in October.

She now ties with Barbra Streisand for the female artist with the most Billboard No 1 albums.