By Will Weissart
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock to his oval office on Monday to sign an executive order that would help to curb ticket scalping and bring about a “common sense” change in price for live events.
“Everyone who has bought a concert ticket in the last decade knows that 20 years is a challenge, perhaps whatever your politics is,” said Kid Rock, who wears a suit with a red bed, featuring an American flag motif and straw fedora.
Designed to halt “pricing by the Midlmen,” the order orders Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent to ensure tickets are offered at a higher price than face value compliant with all Internal Revenue Service regulations.
It also ordered the Federal Trade Commission to “ensure price transparency at every stage of the ticket purchase process” and argues that the Trump administration can restore sensibility and order to the ticket market in order to “take enforcement measures to prevent unfair, deceptive and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticket market.”
Trump said he knows Kid Locke, a longtime supporter whose real name is Robert James Richie, 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 “been getting worse over time.” Kidlock agreed.
“You can buy tickets for $100. It’s $170 by the time you check out. I don’t know what was charged,” Kidlock said. “But more importantly, bots, you know, they get all the good tickets for all the favorite shows you want to go to, and then they’re relisted from time to time with 400-500% markup.”
The order primarily directs federal agencies to enforce existing laws. Still, we mark a rare example of a policy crossover with Democrat President Joe Biden’s management who targeted “junk rates” using the FTC or used the FTC to overshadow all prices for full prices such as concert tickets, hotel rooms, utility bills and more.
Under Biden, the Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, last year. They accused them of carrying out illegal monopolies on live events and asked the courts to disband the system that curbs competition and raises prices for fans.
These companies have a history of clashing with major artists, including Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. The stadium tour in the summer of 2022 was troubled by the difficulty of getting tickets.
Country music star Zach Bryan has released his 2022 album entitled “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster.” A representative for Brian said when asked to comment on Executive Ora on Monday, “There’s nothing to add.”
The Biden administration used such initiatives as a way to protect consumers from already inflated price increases. Meanwhile, Trump campaigned against high ticket prices, calling it “very unfortunate.”
Kid Rock, known for hits like “Cowboy” and “Bawitdaba,” was called Trump’s order a “great first step,” and wanted to see the ticket’s resale price cap in the end, but quickly added, “I’m a capitalist.” He also said he spoke to Ticketmaster.
The White House says the American live concert and entertainment industry is supporting 913,000 jobs with a national economic impact of $132.6 billion.
Trump’s order also directs federal officials and the FTC to submit reports six months later.
“Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large numbers of in-person tickets, then resell them with huge secondary market markup, adjusting prices to consumers, stealing fans from the opportunity to meet their favorite artists without spending extraordinary costs,” White House Facesheet said.
Also, higher prices do not mean additional benefits for the artist, but rather “going to just the Sculper and the ticket agency.”
Kid Rock agreed that such markup would not benefit artists like him, saying, “I can say the first thing I can say. I know I don’t like the president when I say this, but I’m a bit overpaying now.”
“That’s kind of ridiculous. I’d rather be a hero for working class people and be able to attend my show and give them a fair ticket price,” he said. “I can’t control it now, so I hope this is a step towards making it happen.”
Associated Press Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report from New York.
Original issue: March 31, 2025, 5:51pm EDT
