On March 31, President Donald Trump signed a brand new govt order geared toward cracking down on unfair practices within the live performance and stay leisure ticketing trade. Becoming a member of him on the White Home was rock star Child Rock, a vocal advocate for concertgoers and longtime supporter of the previous president.
The chief order focuses on eliminating using ticket-buying bots, growing transparency in pricing, and guaranteeing that followers—not scalpers—have truthful entry to tickets. It directs the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) and the Lawyer Common to implement current legal guidelines, together with the Higher On-line Ticket Gross sales (BOTS) Act, whereas additionally exploring new methods to forestall misleading and predatory practices within the ticket resale market.
Throughout the signing ceremony, Child Rock—whose actual identify is Robert James Ritchie—spoke out passionately concerning the difficulty. “You should purchase a ticket for $100. By the point you try, it’s $170. You don’t even know what you’ve been charged for,” he mentioned. He additionally slammed scalpers and bots, which frequently purchase up giant portions of tickets and resell them at costs that may be 4 or 5 instances the unique value.
Child Rock known as the manager order “an amazing first step” and voiced his hope for future laws that would place limits on ticket resale costs, whereas nonetheless supporting a free market. He mentioned he had lately spoken with representatives from Ticketmaster, who he claimed have been supportive of efforts to wash up the system.
The Trump administration framed the order as a part of a broader push to assist American customers and dealing households. The stay leisure trade contributes over $130 billion to the economic system and helps almost one million jobs, however skyrocketing ticket costs and hidden charges have made attending live shows more and more unaffordable for common People.
As a part of the manager order, federal officers are required to submit a report inside six months detailing enforcement actions taken and recommending additional measures to make sure transparency and equity within the stay occasion ticketing trade.
The transfer indicators a uncommon alignment throughout political and cultural strains, with each followers and artists rising more and more vocal concerning the want for reform. Child Rock’s look underscored the populist tone of the initiative, as he and Trump promised to face up for the followers who make stay music doable.
