Taylor Swift Cancels Rock in Rio Live Stream

Taylor Swift headlined at Las Vegas’s Rock in Rio USA festival last night, May 15, where she was joined by Ed Sheeran for his song “Tenerife Sea”. However, fans hoping to watch her performance via Yahoo!’s live stream were left sorely disappointed.

Although earlier in the day music fans were told they would be able to stream all of the day’s performances (including Taylor’s), Taylor’s was cancelled a few hours before she hit the stage. She is the only artist whose Rock in Rio act was not live streamed yesterday.

According to Billboard, Rock in Rio shared the cancellation was, “a decision from management”. Fans were understandably upset, as for many this was there only chance for them to see Taylor perform.

Taylor took to her personal Tumblr page to show her support for the fans supporting her decision to not live stream the show. She liked several posts including one that says, “YOU. DO. NOT. OWN. TAYLOR. FOR. BUYING. ALBUMS. AND. GOING. TO. TOURS.”

This is not the first time Taylor and her team have gone out of their way to limit access to her performances. Her team has been having videos from Taylor’s first few shows from her 1989 World tour taken down off Youtube for the last few weeks.

I understand Taylor’s desire to protect her music but the Rock in Rio performance and Youtube videos from her concerts are some fans only chances to see Taylor’s live show. Not all of her fans have the money for a concert ticket or the ability to get to a show if it’s not in their country or state. Plus a live stream is the easiest way to gain new fans who might not have heard her music otherwise.