Kid Rock Calls Out Live Nation Exec To His Face During Senate Testimony: “Lining Their Pockets Off Talent They Never Had”

CSPAN

Can always count on Kid Rock to say what he’s thinking.

You might not expect to turn on CSPAN and see Kid Rock in Congress, but today the rocker whose real name is Robert Ritchie is on Capitol Hill testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee in a hearing on concert ticket prices and fees – and it got explosive right off the bat.

It’s an issue that Kid Rock has been especially outspoken about, meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi on the problem earlier last year and even joining President Donald Trump in the Oval Office for a signing of an executive order aimed at taking action against ticket scalping.

And during his opening statement during the hearing today, Kid Rock held nothing back.

Along with Kid Rock, the hearing also featured testimony from Dan Wall, the Executive Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs for Live Nation. And Kid Rock had harsh words for Mr. Wall’s company as the executive was sitting right beside him:

“In 2009, Congress was told – under oath – that merging Live Nation and Ticketmaster would benefit artists and fans. The CEO of Live Nation called the merger an “experiment” and promised it would increase competition, empower artists, and lower costs. He also said, and I quote, “a system that empowers artists benefits everyone.”

Almost need a rim shot after that.”

Kid Rock would go on to say call the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation a failed experiment, although he admits it’s not the only problem with the ticketing industry:

“Should Ticketmaster and Live Nation be broken up? Probably. Would that alone fix things? I’m not sure it would.

But I am sure of this: No artist should be forced to sell their tickets without a say in who sells them and how they are sold.”

He then went on to blame corporate greed and the lack of a competitive market for the problems the industry is facing:

“If artists had real choice, real competition would follow. And tickets would end up in the hands of real fans, at the prices the artists set.

It’s no secret this industry is full of greedy snakes and scoundrels – too many suits lining their pockets off talent they never had and fans they mislead.

The truth is, much of this could have been – or still could be – solved through technology, especially proof-of-humanity tools. It hasn’t happened yet because there’s just too much money in the secondary ticket market.

Ticketing companies didn’t fail to stop this – it seems they chose not to.”

Of course the hearing comes at a time when Ticketmaster and Live Nation are being sued by the FTC and many states for deceptive ticketing practices and unfair pricing. And back in 2024, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the company seeking to break up their merger, accusing Live Nation of being a monopoly engaging in anti-competitive and illegal conduct.

Now, am I expecting anything to really come out of this hearing? Not really. Will these lawsuits actually fix the problem? Honestly, probably not.

But it’s nice to see these executives have to answer for the mess they’ve created.