美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ticketmaster faces a big test: Beyoncé's Renaissance tour

Ticketmaster faces a big test: Beyoncé's Renaissance¹ tour

Transcript²

Beyonce tickets are on sale, but after the Taylor Swift debacle there are questions about whether Ticketmaster is up to the challenges.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The wait is over. Beyonce, or, as some folks call her, Queen Bey, is back. And tickets for her first solo tour in five years are finally on sale this week.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BREAK MY SOUL")

BEYONCE: (Singing) Hold up, oh, baby, baby. You won't break my soul. You won't break my soul. You won't break my soul. You won't break my soul. I'm telling everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody.

FADEL: So how's it going for Ticketmaster this time around? Here to answer that question is NPR's Jonathan Franklin. Good morning.

JONATHAN FRANKLIN, BYLINE³: Good morning, Leila. Thanks for having me.

FADEL: So, Jonathan, has anything changed with Ticketmaster since what we saw happen back in November?

FRANKLIN: Well, you know, Leila, that's a very good question. When Taylor Swift tickets went on sale, so many people tried to buy them at the same time that Ticketmaster's website just flat-out crashed.

FADEL: Yeah.

FRANKLIN: But this time around, Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, say they're going to be making some changes. The companies say they're going to stagger their ticket sales, so you'll be able to buy tickets for certain cities before others go on sale. And that way, all of her fans in Toronto, for example, won't flood the website at the same time as her fans in Miami. And since Beyonce just became the most awarded artist in Grammys history, people are definitely wanting to go see Queen Bey.

FADEL: Yeah. So if I'm a Beyonce fan, what is the process of getting a ticket?

FRANKLIN: Well, luckily, Ticketmaster is using a system that it had for a while called Verified Fan. And they're asking for fans to register in advance for their preferred shows. They say that fans will be vetted⁴ individually. So the company is really hoping that people are buying tickets for themselves and not for reselling. And they're making the tickets nontransferable up to a certain point. So if you do wind up with a ticket, you'd better hope you can really make it to her show.

FADEL: That's a process. How's it going so far, and what happens if the site melts down again?

FRANKLIN: Well, thankfully, Leila, the pre-sale started yesterday and it seems to be going pretty smoothly⁵, fingers crossed. And there's no reports of any major website crashes. Once the demand exceeds the supply, Ticketmaster will resort to more of a lottery-style selection process that will put random⁶ verified fans on the waitlists. But, Leila, that waitlist doesn't mean, necessarily, you'll get a ticket. And the pressure is definitely intense as both fans and Congress are watching the situation to see how the presale goes and if there are any, you know, glitches⁷ or hiccups⁸.

And the website failures are not the only thing that they're watching. It has gotten so bad to the point where President Biden called for Ticketmaster and other companies to lower the service fees that are oftentimes slapped onto tickets for concerts or sporting events. And even Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has called Live Nation a, quote, "monopoly." And then she suggested that using an antitrust law to break things up. And the day after Beyonce announced her tour, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued a not-so-subtle warning to the company, saying in a tweet, quote, "we're watching."

FADEL: So they'll have Congress to deal with and the BeyHive. So we'll see what happens. That's NPR's Jonathan Franklin. Thank you so much for your reporting.

FRANKLIN: Thank you for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BREAK MY SOUL")

BEYONCE: (Singing) And I'm telling everybody, everybody, everybody.

1 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

5 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

7 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

8 hiccups   

n.嗝( hiccup的名词复数 )；连续地打嗝；暂时性的小问题；短暂的停顿v.嗝( hiccup的第三人称单数 )；连续地打嗝；暂时性的小问题；短暂的停顿

参考例句：

• I cannot find a rhyme to "hiccups". 我不能找到和hiccups同韵的词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can we rhyme 'hiccups'with 'pick-ups'? 我们能把‘hiccups’同‘pick－ups’放在一起押韵吗？ 来自辞典例句