President Trump Joined by Kid Rock for Signing of Executive Order Aimed at Ticket Scalping

variety.com:

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic President Donald Trump was joined in the Oval Office by Kid Rock Monday for the signing of an executive order aimed at what the White House is calling “exploitative ticket scalping.” The order calls upon the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to “rigorously enforce” existing laws, so it’s not immediately clear what immediate effect the executive order might have on the ticketing industry.

Trump told reporters that he had been told by his friend Kid Rock about “scalping and all of the gouging that you’ve been reading about it… And I didn’t know too much about it, but i checked it out and it is a big problem.

You’ve been trying to get this done for 20 years or something; he said ‘Trump got it done in two weeks.’ … I’ve spoken to him over the years about it, and it bothers him… The artists go out with a $100 ticket and it sells for $2,000 the following night.” The order appears aimed at cracking down on bots more than setting limits on prices, but Kid Rock said he would like to see laws implemented that do put a cap on what resellers can charge. “Ultimately I think this is a great first step,” said the rocker-rapper. “I would love down the road if there would be some legislation where we could actually put a cap on the resale of tickets. … I’m a capitalist and a deregulation guy, but they’ve tried this in some places in Europe, and it seems to be the only thing that allows us as artists to get tickets into the hands of fans at the prices we set.” This executive order, which does not go nearly that far, was described by the White House as an action that “charges the FTC and Department of Justice with rigorously enforcing laws on the books, in.