Robert James Ritchie, aka Kid Rock, has been one of the very few music stars on the Republican team for years, alongside perhaps Ted Nugent. He plays the tough dog, appeared in the current election campaign with Donald Trump and Elon Musk on the cage fighter show “Ultimate Fighting Championship” and should again be a hot candidate for the stage for Trump’s inauguration on January 20th. Also due to the lack of other artists.
Now he is intervening in the dispute that has been simmering for years over the “dynamic pricing” ticket system, which has recently seen concert tickets rise to unprecedented heights. His Instagram account features a black-and-white photo of US Attorney-elect Pam Bondi, in which Ritchie celebrates a “collaboration” with her.
“Fiasco when purchasing concert tickets”
Bondi was originally intended to be US Attorney General, but after Matt Gaetz’s resignation, the Trump confidant is now set to move to the head of the justice department: “What a pleasure to break bread with @pambondi. I look forward to working with her and the entire administration to resolve the concert ticket purchasing fiasco. I will bust the asses of the bots, the ticket sellers, the venues, the ticket companies, the managers and the artists who are ripping off and cheating the public with this shit that has been going on for decades and has only gotten worse.”
In his usual martial way, he announces that he will lay the ax to the complex system: “Whoever is in charge and wants to help solve this problem, get your ass to the table, otherwise: Fuck Around and Find Out. Kid Rock #MAGA”
Since the merger of the live giants Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2010, there has been a dominant market situation in the live segment, especially in the USA. The official introduction of the dynamic pricing system made this all the more clear.
Ticket prices “normal”
On its U.S. website, the company said ticket prices would be “market rate” and “may increase or decrease at any time based on demand. This is comparable to selling airline tickets and hotel rooms.”
In practice, this led to angry complaints, for example from Taylor Swift; the 2025 comeback of Oasis or Bruce Springsteen’s tour in 2023. After a long wait, various fans were asked to shell out ticket prices of up to $5,000.
At the time, Ticketmaster defended this model on the grounds that only 11.2 percent of Springsteen tickets sold were so-called “platinum tickets” and only 1.3 percent cost $1,000 or more. The average ticket price would have been around $260.
The US Department of Justice had already initiated proceedings against Ticketmaster/Live Nation in April 2024. Wüterich Kid Rock’s call to arms now wants to drastically intensify this. A clever PR stunt on the pop music front so far. Whether he really wants to fight the legal skirmishes with the concert giants together with Pam Bondi is another matter.