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On Monday, March 31, Donald Trump signed a regulation to act against black trade with concert tickets and “profit -oriented behaviors”.
The prescription of black dealers should be condemned in accordance with the exact one: if they acquire “large quantities of tickets to the nominal value” and use “bots and other unfair means”. The tickets are often resold at the secondary market at very high prices. To prevent the whole thing, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now to work with the US general staff attorney Pam Bondi. It is also to ensure that IRS regulations, i.e. the official tax rules, are observed. The “Better Online Ticket Sales (Bots)” law should also be enforced to prevent computer programs from being used for automatic buying tickets.
According to the White House, tickets would be sold over black dealers: up to 70 times more expensive than in the origin, without winning the artists.
Kid Rock expresses his consent to the enactment
Among other things, Kid Rock was present when signing the decree. “Anyone who bought a concert ticket in the last ten, maybe 20 years knows that it is a mystery, no matter what political attitude you have,” said the musician. “You buy a card for $ 100. And if you go to the cash register, it costs $ 170. But even more important that these bots … they come and get all good cards for your favorite shows that you want to go. Then they are immediately offered with a surcharge of sometimes 500 percent. The artists see nothing from this money.” He explained: “I would welcome it if there would be a legislation at some point that actually wins the resale of tickets.”
Live Nation’s statement
Live Nation published the following explanation on the subject: “Black dealers and bots prevent fans from receiving tickets to the prices set by the artists. And we thank President Trump for dealing with them directly. We support all sensible reforms in the area of resale. Including a stronger enforcement of the Bots Act, upper limits for resale prices and much more.”
Not the first approach to combating high resale prices
In recent years, the live industry has been repeatedly accused of not being determined enough against the structures that lead to excessive resale prices of admission tickets. In response to this, the US state of New York in 2022 passed a law on the protection of consumers: inside. However, it is hardly enforced.
In January 2023, Amy Klobuchar, Senator of Minnesota, held a hearing from the Senate Justice Committee. Fans of, for example, Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen were able to tell about their experiences and problems when buying a ticket.
Live Nation is now also trying to improve the situation and urges a “law for fair ticketing”. At the same time, however, the concert organizer is confronted with a lawsuit by the Ministry of Justice that affects the alleged monopoly of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the tour industry. However, the company rejects the allegations. According to the “Reuters” news agency, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have a market share of 70 percent in the ticketing area. With the inauguration of Trump as US President, Live Nation hoped to dismiss the lawsuit. However, this is currently being continued.