By Caroline Miele & Allison Urbanski, Assistants to Editor-in-Chief

Taylor Swift has dominated the music industry since 2006, winning multiple Grammys, MTV awards, and more. Proclaimed Woman of the Year by Billboard in 2011 and 2014, Swift’s positive influence on young girls and women across the globe is undeniable. Swift’s release of her tenth studio album Midnights– which consists of thirteen songs plus the seven bonus tracks- has dominated charts. While accepting an award at the 2022 VMAs, Swift announced the upcoming release of a new album, which was dropped on October 21, 2022- fittingly at midnight. Different in genre from her previous releases, Midnights has an entirely unique vibe in comparison to recent work such as Folklore and Evermore, which are generally more indie and R&B.  As reported by NPR, Swift quickly rose to the Top 5 on Spotify Artist Charts and has maintained high rankings on Billboard’s Hot 100 for several weeks since the debut of Midnights.

Although the news came as both unexpected for Taylor Swift fans globally, on November 1, 2022, the artist announced her plans for a world tour entitled “Eras”.  Excitement grew when she revealed she would be performing songs from all of her highly beloved albums since her premiere in 2006 with Taylor Swift.  The news of Swift’s tour became a source of controversy and scrutiny among the public as many fans were unsuccessful in purchasing tickets due to the overwhelming sellouts during Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan Pre-Sale. Ticketmaster and their parent company, LiveNation, canceled general sale tickets. “Swifties,” a term coined by pop culture to classify fans of Swift, were heartbroken by the sell-out.

Turning to resale websites, they were met with outrageous ticket prices and scams. Although Swift’s tour was successful financially, it resulted in outrage and despair from her supporters. She released a short statement on social media that essentially placed the majority of the blame on Ticketmaster. Shortly following the ticket scandal, representatives of Congress decided to bring LiveNation and their president to a hearing. Fans await justice and are pleased with the actions taken by the federal government to hold the company accountable but still remain quite frustrated having not purchased tickets to a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“I love Taylor Swift so it was disappointing when fans had trouble getting tickets. They need to figure out how to stop bots from stealing tickets from real fans,” said Trinity Hall senior, Michelle McCabe.

Trinity Hall is home to a large number of “Swifties,” some of whom will be in attendance for her various tour dates in the spring.  Furthermore, data from a school-wide survey suggests that the student body’s favorite song from Midnights is “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” while the students’ favorite album from Swift is Reputation.  As the spotlight continues to shine upon the talented American singer-songwriter, the Trinity Hall students have and will continue to embrace Swift’s music, hoping to secure tickets to her upcoming performances.