It is a unique occasion where there is an overlap in policy between the Biden administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in their efforts to address “junk fees” added at the conclusion of the purchasing process.
WASHINGTON — During a meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, President Donald Trump welcomed Kid Rock and signed an executive order aimed at reducing ticket scalping and implementing practical changes to how pricing is determined for live events.
Regardless of political affiliations, Kid Rock, dressed in a flashy red suit adorned with an American flag design and a straw fedora, emphasized the ubiquitous issue faced by anyone who has purchased a concert ticket in the past decade or even 20 years, describing it as a perplexing situation.
Designed to stop “price-gouging by middlemen,” the order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent 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 “price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process” and to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market,” 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 “Bob.”
“He’s been a good friend for a long time,” Trump said.
The president said rising fees for concerts and other events have “gotten worse and worse with time.” Kid Rock agreed.
“You can buy a ticket for $100. By the time you check out, it’s $170. You don’t know what you’ve been charged for,” Kid Rock said. “But, 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’re relisted immediately for sometimes 400-500% markup.”
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 Joe Biden, which used the FTC to target “ junk fees,” 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 sued 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 “scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on.”
“We support any meaningful resale reforms,” 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 Taylor Swift. whose summer 2022 stadium tour was plagued by difficulty getting tickets. Country music star Zach Bryan even released a 2022 album titled “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster.”
A representative for Bryan said he had “nothing to add” 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 “very unfortunate.”
Kid Rock, known for hits like “Cowboy” and “Bawitdaba,” called Trump’s order a ”great first step” and said he’d eventually like to see a cap on resale prices on tickets — while quickly adding, “I’m a capitalist.” He also said he’d spoken to Ticketmaster, which he described as “on board” with the change.
The White House says America’s 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,” according to a fact sheet it released Monday.
Trump’s order further directs federal officials and the FTC to deliver a report in six months “summarizing 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.”
“Ticket 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,” the White House face sheet said.
It also noted that higher prices don’t mean additional profits for artists but instead go “solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.”
Kid Rock agreed that such markups don’t benefit artists like himself, then chuckled while offering, “I’ll be the first one to say, and I know the president doesn’t like when I say this, but, I’m a little overpaid right now.”
“It’s 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,” he said. “I can’t control that right now so hopefully this is a step to make that happen.”
