(Special Report)

Written by: Ginny Gaines 

Trump signs Exec Order to stop ticket scams and make concerts fairer for fans. On March 31, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order called “Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market.” The goal? To make concert tickets more affordable and stop scammers from buying up tickets and reselling them at crazy high prices. Live concerts are a huge part of the U.S. economy, bringing in over $132 billion and providing jobs for nearly a million people. But there’s a big problem, scalpers and bots. These are people (or automated programs) that grab a bunch of tickets (usually the best seats) the moment they go on sale and then sell them at insane markups. Fans who want to see their favorite bands end up paying way too much, and the artists don’t even get a cut of those extra profits.

President Trump’s order lays out several steps to fix this:

1. Cracking Down on Ticket Scams – The government will take stronger action against companies or groups that block fair competition in ticket sales. If a company is making it harder for fans to get tickets at a fair price, they could face legal consequences.

2. Stopping Bots from Stealing Tickets – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is being told to seriously enforce a law from 2016 called the BOTS Act (Better Online Ticket Sales Act). This law makes it illegal to use bots to snatch up tickets before real fans even get a chance.

3. Making Ticket Prices Clear – Have you ever seen a concert ticket that says $50, but by checkout, it’s suddenly $75 with fees? This order pushes for more transparency, so buyers see the real cost upfront—before they check out.

4. Investigating Resale Scams – Some ticket resale websites charge ridiculous fees or operate in shady ways. The government is now looking into these practices to see if action needs to be taken against unfair pricing.

5. Ensuring Scalpers Pay Taxes – Many ticket resellers make a ton of money, but don’t always pay their fair share in taxes. The IRS will start cracking down to make sure they follow the rules like everyone else.

6. A Full Report on Progress – Within 6 months, government agencies must report back on what they’ve done to make ticket sales fairer and suggest any additional steps that may be needed.

At the signing, Trump was joined by Kid Rock, who has been outspoken against ticket scalping. He pointed out that these scams hurt real fans and that action was long overdue. Even major companies like Live Nation (which owns Ticketmaster) support this effort. Their CEO thanked Trump and Kid Rock, saying they also want to stop unfair ticket scalping.

This isn’t the first time someone tried to fix the ticketing mess. The BOTS Act was passed in 2016, but barely enforced. Before this order, the FTC had only acted once against a company breaking the BOTS law! Also, earlier in 2025, the government proposed a rule to require full price transparency in all kinds of purchases, including concert tickets. This new order builds on that effort, making sure the entertainment industry cleans up its act.

This Executive Order is a major win for music fans. It forces ticket sellers to be more transparent, stops bots from taking over sales, and makes sure scalpers play fair and pay their taxes. With government agencies finally taking this seriously, we might soon see cheaper and fairer ticket prices for everyone.

Let’s hope these changes make a real difference!

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