Music Industry reacts to Executive Order on Ticket Scalping

The music industry is reacting to President Trump’s Executive Order on ticket scalping “Combating Unfair Practices In The Live Entertainment Market.”

“blighted by unscrupulous middlemen”

Trump’s Executive Order on ticket scalping says that that live music has been “blighted by unscrupulous middlemen who sit at the intersection between artists and fans and impose egregious fees while providing minimal value.”

“Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets and then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market,” the Order continues, “price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses.”

The Executive Order directs the U.S. Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce existing competition laws including the Better Online Tickets Sales Act (BOTS) which limits that use of bots to buy tickets, but almost never been enforced.

It also instructs the FTC to take action “to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market” and the Secretary of the Treasury and Attorney General to ensure scalpers are operating in compliance with IRS code and other applicable laws.

All agencies are ordered to report their progress within 180 days.

Full text of Ticket Scalping Executive Order and Fact Sheet

Kid Rock wants more

Trump shared the spotlight at the signing with longtime supporter Kid Rock who encouraged him to go further: “Ultimately I think this is a great first step. 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.”

Music Industry reacts to Executive Order on Ticket Scalping

Live Nation and StubHub

Reactions to the Executive Order from major industry players have been positive, though each has unique reasons to support the order.

“Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on,” Live Nation said in a statement. “We support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more.”

Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary have been consistent supporters of bot reform and limits on ticket resale. Like other primary ticket sellers and promoters, Ticketmaster and Live Nation gain by having more control over ticket prices and sales when secondary market is weakened.

StubHub also issued a statement in support even though the resellers who use its platform will find it harder to operate if – and given ongoing federal agency staff cuts, it is a big if – the Executive Order is fully implemented.

“StubHub applauds President Trump for taking steps to better protect fans from ticket bots and bad actors who exploit vulnerabilities in the primary ticket market,” StubHub said in the statement. “We welcome more transparency, safety, and competition to improve the industry for fans and further protect them from a live entertainment monopoly.”

StubHub recently filed with the SEC to go public. In the IPO, it said it generated $1.77 billion in 2024 revenue, up 29% year over year.

Randy Nichols, Chris Castle and Bob Lefsetz

Others in the industry are more skeptical.

 “I remain cautiously optimistic, though skeptical, due to the mixed signals from President Trump,” artist manager Randy Nichols told Hypebot. “He has directed the FTC to produce a report on scalping, and one of StubHub’s leading lobbyists, Mark Meador, was recently nominated by Trump to serve as FTC commissioner. I hope this Executive Order will encourage Congress to update the Ticket Act in a way that protects fans and ultimately puts scalpers out of business.”

“I just want the popcorn concession.”

“There’s sliced bread and then there’s the EO,” shared attorney and artist advocate Chris Castle. “President Trump’s whole of government approach is required due to the scope of the problem. Artists can’t be expected to take this on by themselves. If the reseller morass is as bad as I think it is, the investigation could extend into racketeering, money laundering and securities law violations. I just want the popcorn concession.”

“In reality the order says nothing…” wrote Bob Lefsetz. “Oh yeah, DOGE just gutted the IRS…who’s going to enforce that? Where are all the IRS engineers with time to dedicate to researching the receipts of brokers.

“As for the BOTS act… It’s been on the books for years, but it’s been ineffective because there’s been no money/assets delegated for ENFORCEMENT!,” continued Lefsetz. “And in a government where Musk is cutting willy-nilly, where is the extra manpower to focus on…TICKET SCALPING?”

Kevin Erikson & Future Of Music Coalition

Kevin Erikson, Director of the Future Of Music Coalition shared this analysis:

“The specific action items identified in this EO are clearly aligned with what artists, venues, arts nonprofits, and fans have been asking for. This isn’t a partisan issue – these are just concrete steps that would bring the US in line with what many peer nations have already been doing to create better experiences for fans and artists. If the enforcement agencies are fully funded and fully staffed, they could achieve some meaningful improvements and begin to address the industrial-scale extraction and fraud that the predatory resale industry and its private equity backers have wrought.

“other EOs have been profoundly problematic for music creators and our communities”

That said, we can’t ignore that this lands in the context of a series of other EOs that have been profoundly problematic for music creators and our communities on issues like human rights, free expression, labor justice, and arts funding. So today we can celebrate that this movement for healthy live music policies is growing in influence, while continuing to commit to defending the creative community against assaults on our freedom.

The roadmap to healthy live music policy remains clear:  

• break up Live Nation, separating the ticketing, venue ownership, tour promotion, and artist management divisions of the company to protect healthy competition
• implement clear rules of the road that apply to all companies, and rein in predatory resellers’ extractive and deceptive practices
• cap resale at face value and build ethical fan-to-fan alternatives”

Nathaniel Mauro & The National Independent Talent Organization

“At NITO, we support efforts to combat ticket scalping and create a more hospitable environment for artists to sell their tickets to fans,” says Nathaniel Mauro, Executive Director, National Independent Talent Organization (NITO). “However, we believe this action should be led by our representatives in Congress through legislation rather than an executive order.

“Effectively protecting and supporting both the live entertainment industry and fans requires strict enforcement of the BOTS Act, along with additional measures to curb or eliminate exploitative pricing, unfair fees, and the unregulated secondary ticketing market. Last year, NITO filed a formal complaint with the FTC about BOTS Act violators openly selling technology at the World Ticket Conference, but never received a response.

We hope this executive order will urge Congress to act and empower the FTC to protect fans against predatory resellers.”

Full text of Ticket Scalping Executive Order and Fact Sheet

Bruce Houghton