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Once upon a time, Beyoncé fans could gleefully rejoice over the music icon’s tour announcements. However, the complicated process of buying concert tickets these days has made these occasions less than thrilling.

This week, presale tickets went live for Beyoncé’s highly anticipated Cowboy Carter Tour, which she announced earlier this month after postponing the initial Jan. 14 reveal. The news sent fans into a frenzy after they realized Queen Bey was, once again, asking us to open our wallets and get ready for another live show run — even amid President Donald Trump’s looming trade war and inflation causing the price of eggs to skyrocket.

As Ruth Etiesit Samuel wrote for HuffPost amid last year’s tour rumors, “Beyoncé, ma’am, we are broke.” Yet and still, Beyhive members prepped their bank accounts this week to secure seats at the Chitlin’ Circuit Tour.

For many people, this isn’t their first rodeo relying on Ticketmaster to supply their Beyoncé tour needs. In 2023, the sales giant tried an online lottery system for Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour with its Verified Fan program — which required fans to register for various presale categories to either receive a unique access code or be put on the waitlist. The Cowboy Carter Tour is following a similar process, but just like last time, it’s leaving folks both frustrated and pissed beyond belief.

From ridiculously long wait times to website glitches to sky-high ticket prices, the struggle for Cowboy Carter tickets is real — and that was before the general public sale had even begun.

The disastrous process of getting Beyoncé tickets isn’t an isolated issue; it’s more like an ongoing problem that has yet to be addressed.

Ticketmaster has long been accused of having a monopoly on every aspect of the live concert industry. The company, along with parent company Live Nation (the two entities merged in 2010 and reportedly have roughly 70% control of the ticketing market), was even sued by the Justice Department last year in a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit.

Fans, including those who managed to get tickets, alluded to that this week as the digital Cowboy Carter Tour stampede commenced.

Some online users even joked about why more legal action should be taken against Ticketmaster.

Backlash arises against Ticketmaster whenever a major artist announces a tour, so perhaps more is required to make ticket buying fair again. One X user suggested that big-name performers like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift use their negotiating power to advocate for more affordable prices for fans (if they’re genuinely interested in that): “They’re already billionaires; their tickets don’t need to be $1500+ a piece.”

Then again, the point of touring is to make money, so perhaps an artist of Swift and Beyoncé’s caliber feels that higher prices are justified.

Meanwhile, another X user proposed fans take matters into their own hands and take a stand against Ticketmaster: “Yall want artists to set a price for tickets? Yall want Ticketmaster to stop dynamic pricing & predatory fees? Stop buying the tickets.”

Concerts are by no means a necessity for those who wish to see their favorite artists perform. However, it shouldn’t require an overly intricate process to purchase a ticket or two. It’s the exploitative nature of capitalism that has slowly but surely conditioned fans to accept this as their reality.

It doesn’t have to be that way if Ticketmaster-Live Nation could finally be held accountable. Last month, a judge ordered a pricing class-action lawsuit against the two companies to proceed, so that could be a start. NBC News reported last year that a successful dissolution of the entities could foster more competition in the ticket market for concert venues, eventually driving prices down for fans.

It seems there’s hope for change, though it may take a while until we see it. Ticketmaster may have survived the Beyhive’s wrath this time, but things would be much better for fans if there isn’t a next time, too.

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