Matt Rife tour puts Ticketmaster's pre-sale problems back in the spotlight. Tips to get your tickets
Fans of TikTok personality and comedian Matt Rife had a “ProbleMATTic” experience purchasing tickets for his long-awaited world tour Tuesday when they came face-to-face with Ticketmaster’s confusing pre-sale ticket system.
Rife’s ‘ProbleMATTic World Tour’ was announced on social media Tuesday for over 100 locations throughout North America, Australia and Europe, including four Florida cities — Pensacola, Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Jacksonville.
But when fans went to purchase pre-sale tickets on Ticketmaster, they discovered an hours-long queue, inflated prices and confusing wording.
With just over 24 hours before the next pre-sale goes live at 10 a.m. CDT on Thursday, we’ll show you how to navigate the process and let you know what to expect.
What is Ticketmaster’s pre-sale system?
If you head over to Rife’s world tour ticket page now, you’ll be met with a countdown for his next pre-sale ticket sale and nine other ticket packages beneath it.
It’s a convoluted system, but the general idea is that Ticketmaster works with several avenues to provide fans with several opportunities to get pre-sale codes that will allow them to buy tickets before the general sale goes live.
Once fans have a pre-sale ticket code, they can head over to the appropriate page and purchase tickets during the indicated time frame using the code to “unlock” tickets.
The unlock button will appear in between the number of tickets drop-down menu and filter buttons on desktop and mobile browsers.
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How do I get a pre-sale code?
Ticketmaster lists 11—yes, one-one—types of presale tickets on its website. Here’s a quick rundown of what each is.
Ticketmaster pre-sale — Obtained directly from Ticketmaster by signing up to receive special offers from the ticketing platform and favoriting artists, performers, sports teams and venues you’re interested in. Important note: Ticketmaster says this must be done on the desktop website as app favorites don’t generate pre-sale emails.
Live Nation pre-sale — Obtained by logging into Live Nation using your Ticketmaster sign-in details. You will receive similar email alerts about upcoming Live Nation pre-sales once you’re signed in. Important note: You will need to use the Live Nation pre-sale passwords “ICONIC” or “DISCO” to access pre-sale tickets.
Social media pre-sale — Simply follow your favorite artists’, venues’ or show’s social media pages and keep an eye peeled for unique posted pre-sales. Ticketmaster says followers are usually the first in line to get the most recent pre-sale codes when they go live.
Venue pre-sale — Visit your favorite venues’ websites and subscribe to their newsletters to find out when pre-sale codes go live and how to get them.
Credit card pre-sale — Some credit card companies, like Citibank and Chase, offer special pre-sale access perks to loyal customers. Check with your credit card company to see what benefits they offer.
Fan club pre-sale — Join an official fan club. Fan club members are frequently rewarded with pre-sale access to shows. Important to note: There may be a cost associated with joining a fan club or community, so read all the details before signing up.
Fan Club Bundle — Some artists will give non-fan club members early access to tickets when they purchase a special “Fan Club Bundle.” These bundles typically include an official fan club membership and access to the specified pre-sale period.
Spotify pre-sale — Spotify will occasionally send out unique pre-sale codes to users who actively listen and follow their favorite artists. Make sure you have email notifications turned on to receive them.
Album pre-order pre-sale — Touring artists promoting new album releases will sometimes offer pre-sale codes to fans who have pre-ordered the new album. Users can receive these codes by signing up for notifications from their favorite artists and Live Nation.
Team pre-sale — Visit your favorite sports team’s website for information on how to join their email list.
Radio pre-sale — Some radio stations offer pre-sale codes. These can be obtained by listening to a station that plays your favorite artists or visiting the station’s website for details on signing up and getting codes.
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What is Ticketmaster’s Smart Queue?
A quick technical note: When it comes to anything connected to the internet, websites are limited by physical servers the site is hosted on. Servers are expensive to purchase and even more expensive to upkeep. Sites do their best to account for high volumes of traffic, but it can vary drastically, and unexpected high volumes of traffic can leave users frustrated and companies scrambling to reallocate resources.
Ticketmaster’s Smart Queue is its solution to combatting scalpers and regulating traffic so users aren’t stuck sitting at a blank, white page holding prime tickets hostage on the other side. It’s a good idea, but as Rife fans found out first-hand, it doesn’t completely stop scalpers from nabbing tickets to resale or eliminate frustrating user experiences.
Tips for Ticketmaster’s queue
Ticketmaster doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a chance to buy tickets when you join a queue, but there are some ways to help your chances.
Join the waiting room at least 10 minutes before the event goes on sale.
Tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis once it’s your turn to shop, so check venue seating ahead of time and make backup plans if you find that your preferred seats are already taken.
Don’t refresh. The page will automatically refresh when you enter the queue.
Don’t let your screen dim. The waiting room will pause if your screen dims.
Don’t leave the page.
Have your current payment and billing info ready to go ahead of time.
Turn on your volume. A queue bell will sound once you’re in the queue.
Your spot will be held for 10 minutes once you’re in the queue.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Matt Rife tickets and Ticketmaster presale tips to get tickets
