By Will Weissert
Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock to the oval office on Monday and signed a decree which, according to him, will help limit the scalping of tickets and make changes of “common sense” in the way live events are evaluated.
“Anyone who has bought a concert ticket in the last decade, perhaps 20 years – whatever your policy – knows that it is an enigma,” said Kid Rock, who wore a red dazzled costume with an American flag motif and a straw Fedora.
Designed to stop the “price prices by intermediaries”, the order directs the Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Secretary of the Treasury Scott besides to ensure that the scalpers offering tickets at higher prices than their nominal value complies with all the rules of the internal income service.
He also orders the Federal Trade Commission to ensure “the transparency of prices at all stages of the ticket purchase process” and to “take action measures to prevent unjust, misleading and anti -competitive driving on the secondary ticketing market”, which, according to the Trump administration, can restore sensitivity and order on the ticket market.
Trump said he knew Kid Rock, a long -standing supporter whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, like simply “Bob”.
“He’s a good friend for a long time,” said Trump.
The president said that the increase in concert fees and other events “got worse and more over time.” Kid Rock accepted.
“You can buy a ticket for $ 100. When you check, it’s $ 170. You don’t know what you were billed for,” Kid Rock said. “But, more importantly, the bots, you know, they enter, they get all the right tickets for your favorite shows you want to go, then they are immediately dismissed for sometimes a marking of 400 to 500%.”
The order mainly orders federal agencies to enforce existing laws. However, he marks a rare example of political crossing with the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, who used the FTC to target “compensation costs” or withdrawals at the end of the purchasing process which can hide the total price of things such as concert tickets, hotel rooms and public service bills.
Under Biden, the Ministry of Justice also continued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, last year. He accused them of directing an illegal monopoly on live events and asked a court to break the system that cuts competition and increases fans prices.
These companies have a history of conflict with major artists, notably Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. Including the tour of the summer stadium in the summer of 2022 was in the grip of difficulties in obtaining tickets.
Country music star Zach Bryan even released a 2022 album entitled “All my homies hate Ticketmaster”. A Bryan representative said that he had “nothing to add” when he was asked to comment on Monday director ORER.
Biden administration used these initiatives as a means of protecting consumers from the increase in prices already inflated. Trump, meanwhile, campaigned on the fight against high ticket prices, calling them “very unhappy”.
Kid Rock, known for his successes as “Cowboy” and “Bawitdaba”, described Trump’s order a “great first step” and said that he would finally like to see a ceiling on resale prices on tickets – while quickly adding: “I am capitalist”. He also said that he had spoken to Ticketmaster, which he described as “on board” with the change.
The White House says that the Concert and Live Entertainment industry in America has a total economic impact at a national level of $ 132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs, “but it has become destroyed by unscrupulous intermediate men who impose flagrant costs with fans without advantage for artists”, according to an information sheet published Monday.
Trump’s order also orders federal officials and the FTC to publish a six -month report “summarizing measures taken to resolve the problem of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation necessary to protect consumers in this industry.”
“Ticket scalpers use robots and other unfair means to acquire large amounts of facial value tickets, then redefine them to a huge increase in the secondary market, consumers who get up on prices and deprive fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without initiating extraordinary expenses,” said the White House facial sheet.
He also noted that higher prices do not mean additional benefits for artists, but rather go “only to the scalper and the ticketing agency”.
Kid Rock agreed that such markings do not benefit artists like him, then grove by offering: “I will be the first to say, and I know that the president does not like it when I say that, but I am a little too paid at the moment.”
“It’s a bit ridiculous. I would prefer to be, you know, a hero to the working class and that they can be able to assist my programs and give them an equitable price of tickets,” he said. “I can’t control this for the moment, so I hope it’s a step to get there.”
The writer of the Associated Press, Maria Sherman, contributed to this New York report.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
