Kid Rock Slams Ticketmaster During Congress Testimony

Kid Rock‘s Congressional testimony about unfair ticketing practices was personal and persuasive. The country-rocker took aim at agencies such as Ticketmaster and Live Nation and fired.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn invited Kid Rock (real name Robert Ritchie) to speak on Wednesday (Jan. 28). During his allotted five minutes he spoke of a decades long (or longer) fight for fairness in event ticket sales and distribution.

Read More: 17 Things You Never Knew About Kid Rock

Secondary markets that inflate prices are just part of the problem, he says, labeling the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster a failure. While he stopped short of accusing either of collusion, he stopped just short.

Kid Rock’s Solution To Unfair Event Ticketing Practices

“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 misled,” he says during the sharpest portion of his five-minute testimony.

Read the full transcript below. Kid Rock’s solution is to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation, mandate a 10 percent price cap on resale markets and use technology to eliminate bots.

“No artist should be forced to sell their tickets without a say in who sells them and how they are sold,” Kid Rock — a proud capitalist — says. “What other business in America doesn’t control — or at least have a say in — its own inventory?”

His testimony is rare, but representative, he suggests. “Unlike most of my peers, I am beholden to no one,” Kid Rock says early on. “To put it plainly, I ain’t scared to speak out on these issues like many artists, managers, and agents are for fear of biting the hand that feeds them.

Kid Rock’s Testimony To Congress — Full Transcript

On Social media, Kid Rock provided the full text of his prepared remarks. The actual speech included very few deviations.