Entertainment

You Need To Be A #VerifiedFan To See Harry Styles

Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Because I'm a magnanimous soul, I want to do everything in my power to help you get Harry Styles tickets. First, you might need to know how this Ticketmaster fan verification thing works. The singer announced the dates for his first solo tour on Friday, and any fans who started looking into how to get a ticket probably noticed that buying Harry Styles concert tickets requires becoming a #VerifiedFan. It might seem like another obstacle between you and seeing your future husband Harry Styles in concert, but it's actually a good thing put in place for a very good reason. Plus, it's easy-peasy to deal with, so don't worry about it.

All you need to do is register for #VerifiedFan before the Harry Styles Live On Tour tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on May 5. Once you've done that, you should receive an offer code between two and four hours before the sale begins, which gives you the ability to purchase tickets. Although just like a regular ticket sale, nothing is guaranteed, so make sure you're checking the fine print:

Registration does not guarantee you will receive a code or have the ability to purchase tickets. To allow as many fans as possible to enjoy Harry Styles, there is a four (4) ticket limit per offer code.

So why are they doing all this? Well, #VerifiedFan is a process implemented by Ticketmaster to ensure that the people buying the tickets are the same people who will be going to see the show. It's long been an issue that bots would scoop up a bunch of tickets and then scalpers would sell them online at a profit once the show is sold out, and nobody wants that. (Except the scalpers.)

Ticketmaster wants to make sure that people are buying tickets because they're excited to see the show themselves with their friends, not because they're excited to make a quick buck off of Harry Styles fans who were several seconds slower on the purchasing page than the software designed to beat them to the punch. That's no fun.

And tour operators are taking things one step further, just to do their best to make sure that tickets end up in the right hands. According to a representative:

Tickets will have the name of the person who purchased the ticket printed on them — this name will specifically match the name of the card holder making the purchase. That person must present valid photo ID that matches the name on entry to the venue. There will be no exceptions to this and no opportunity to swap tickets to a third party name.

Unless you're a sneaky scalper, this should be really good news for you, because it makes the likelihood that you'll get a ticket at a fair price that much higher.