As someone who has bought many concert tickets in her lifetime, I like to try and stay up to date on the things that might affect my chances of securing the best seats. Buying tickets online has quickly become the best and easiest way to get a chance at seeing the event you're looking into. Sadly, there are so many scalpers, bots, and requirements to actually get to the ticket-buying screen and it gets so frustrating sometimes.

Last year Ticketmaster started a new 'Verified Fan' initiative that was hoping to eliminate scalpers from getting to the tickets and make sure the tickets got into the hands of the real fans. Artists like Ed Sheeran, Paramore, Katy Perry, the 1975, and Harry Styles have all started to take advantage of this new format when it comes to fans purchasing tickets. While the approach means well, and mostly makes sure bots don't get the tickets to sell them way above face value, it can be frustrating for fans who don't receive the emails and texts saying they've been chosen just to have a shot at the tickets when they go on sale. When Harry Styles' first leg of his US tour was announced last spring, it was the first time some of his fans were seeing the new Verified Fan format. In a record-breaking ratio, there were seven fans vying for each seat on his very small and exclusive 13 date tour. Ticketmaster felt very accomplished that only five percent of the tickets for the tour ended up on resale sites priced well over face value.

There have also been talks of Ticketmaster revamping a dynamic pricing system for their upcoming concerts. This would mean that if a concert or show wasn't selling as well as hoped, Ticketmaster would begin to lower the prices. Sometimes, ticket prices will go down the night before or day of concerts, especially on resale sites, because people want the tickets to be sold. Getting some money for your ticket is always better than being out that money. Everyone loves lower prices but that might also mean that artists won't do as many tours or the same size of tours for fear of having to lower prices and lose money. Some fans are also worried that Ticketmaster being able to lower prices, might lead them to raise prices to fit the demand in the market. Personally, that's the scariest thing for me because if that's the case, One Direction reunion tour tickets will end up being like $4,000 a pop.

In the end, all any fan wants is to see their fave artists in concert. Ticketmaster, an arm of Live Nation, is the main reputable ticketing buying website on the internet today. It would be really unfortunate if they begin to take advantage of the fans that are keeping them in business and current. The Verified Fan initiative means well and I hope it continues to be successful, but only if I keep getting picked for the opportunity to purchase tickets.