'Why Not Just Let It See Its Course?': Kid Rock Shocked at DOJ, Live Nation Settlement

Kid Rock has been an advocate for fair ticketing over the last year, and now, he’s just as confused as fans and lawmakers after the U.S. Department of Justice settled with Live Nation only one week into its antitrust trial.

The controversial conservative rocker — who has remained a close ally of President Donald Trump — told Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman that he was shocked by the news, noting that “I don’t understand why they would negotiate a settlement.”

“Why not just let it see its course?” he said. “Let’s see what 12 people decide.”

The antitrust trial against Live Nation and Ticketmaster resumed Monday with a smaller, state-led coalition pressing forward after DOJ’s abrupt exit. Judge Arun Subramanian told jurors at the outset that the United States, along with Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota, had resolved their claims, while the remaining states were continuing the case. 

| READ: Unsealed Live Nation Exhibits Show Ticketing Executives Mocking Fans, Boasting of Parking and Upsell Revenue |

Last month, Rock revealed that he would be teaming-up with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, locking tickets purchased to his upcoming tour to the Ticketmaster “Face Value Exchange” system – despite having testified before a Senate subcommittee in January calling-out their “monopoly” over the ticketing industry.

| READ: Kid Rock Fans Slam Ticket Prices — After Singer Just Teamed-Up with Ticketmaster to Ensure ‘Affordability’ |

Earlier this year, Rock testified on Capitol Hill about the issues within the ticketing industry and called-out Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s monopoly. During his testimony, he told the committee that Pearl Jam had previously testified before them in the ’90s, and back in 2009, they were told that a Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger would benefit fans, with Live Nation’s CEO promising to “increase competition and power artists and lower costs.”

| READ: ‘Too Many Suits Lining Their Pockets Off Talent They Never Had and Fans They Misled’: Kid Rock Testifies at Senate Hearing |

However, Rock said that the merger has not been in the best interest of fans nor artists, as “the economic foundation that supported artists in the past is crumbling.”

“Piracy is threatening their livelihood,” Rock said. “Secondary ticketing is driving up prices for the fans with absolutely no benefit to the artist,” Rock added. “Needless to say, that experiment has failed miserably. Independent venues have been crushed. Artists have lost leverage. Fans are paying more than ever and getting blamed for it.”

Rock even asked Congress to subpoena the contracts signed, arguing that the deals between artists, promoters, venues, ticketing companies, agencies, and vendors would “find mountains of fraud and abuse.”