WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock into the Oval Office on Monday and signed an executive order that he says will help curb ticket scalping and bring 鈥渃ommonsense鈥 changes to the way live events are priced.
鈥淎nyone whosa国际传媒 bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years 鈥 no matter what your politics are 鈥 knows that itsa国际传媒 a conundrum,鈥 said Kid Rock, who wore a red bedazzled suit featuring an American flag motif and a straw fedora.
Designed to stop 鈥減rice-gouging by middlemen,鈥 the order directs Attorney General and Treasury Secretary to ensure that scalpers offering tickets at higher prices than their face value comply with all Internal Revenue Service rules.
It also orders the Federal Trade Commission to ensure 鈥減rice transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process鈥 and to 鈥渢ake enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market,鈥 which the Trump administration argues can restore sensibility and order to the ticket market.
Trump said he knows Kid Rock, a longtime supporter whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, as simply 鈥淏ob.鈥
鈥淗esa国际传媒 been a good friend for a long time,鈥 Trump said.
The president said rising fees for concerts and other events have 鈥済otten worse and worse with time.鈥 Kid Rock agreed.
鈥淵ou can buy a ticket for $100. By the time you check out, it's $170. You don鈥檛 know what you鈥檝e been charged for,鈥 Kid Rock said. 鈥淏ut, more importantly, the bots, you know, they come in, they get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they鈥檙e relisted immediately for sometimes 400-500% markup.鈥
The order mostly directs federal agencies to enforce existing laws. Still, it marks a rare instance of policy crossover with the administration of Democratic President , which used the FTC to target 鈥 ,鈥 or levies tacked on at the end of the purchase process that can mask the full price of things like concert tickets, hotel rooms and utility bills.
Under Biden, the Justice Department also Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, last year. It accused them of running an illegal monopoly over live events and asked a court to break up the system that squelches competition and drives up prices for fans.
Live Nation said Monday evening that 鈥渟calpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on."
鈥淲e support any meaningful resale reforms,鈥 the company said in a statement, adding that that included backing caps on resale prices. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino also thanked Trump and Kid Rock in a post on X.
Those companies have a history of clashing with major artists, including Bruce Springsteen and . whose summer 2022 stadium tour was plagued by . Country music star Zach Bryan even released a titled 鈥淎ll My Homies Hate Ticketmaster.鈥
A representative for Bryan said he had 鈥渘othing to add鈥 when asked to comment on the executive order.
The Biden administration used such initiatives as a way to protect consumers from rising prices that were already inflated. Trump, meanwhile, campaigned on combating high ticket prices, calling them 鈥渧ery unfortunate.鈥
Kid Rock, known for hits like 鈥淐owboy鈥 and 鈥淏awitdaba,鈥 called Trump's order a 鈥漡reat first step鈥 and said he'd eventually like to see a cap on resale prices on tickets 鈥 while quickly adding, 鈥淚鈥檓 a capitalist.鈥 He also said he'd spoken to Ticketmaster, which he described as 鈥渙n board" with the change.
The White House says Americasa国际传媒 live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs, "But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,鈥 according to a fact sheet it released Monday.
Trumpsa国际传媒 order further directs federal officials and the FTC to deliver a report in six months 鈥渟ummarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers in this industry.鈥
鈥淭icket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets, then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses,鈥 the White House face sheet said.
It also noted that higher prices don't mean additional profits for artists but instead go 鈥渟olely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.鈥
Kid Rock agreed that such markups don't benefit artists like himself, then chuckled while offering, 鈥淚鈥檒l be the first one to say, and I know the president doesn鈥檛 like when I say this, but, I鈥檓 a little overpaid right now.鈥
鈥淚tsa国际传媒 kind of ridiculous. I would rather be, you know, a hero to working-class people and have them be able to come attend my shows and give them a fair ticket price,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 control that right now so hopefully this is a step to make that happen.鈥
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Associated Press writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report from New York.
