The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission were directed by President Trump to conduct an investigation into ticket scalping pursuant to Executive Order 14254 “Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market.”

This led directly to both agencies inviting public comments on the state of the live event ticketing market—an industry riddled with speculation, opacity, and middlemen who seem to make money without ever attending a show. Over 4000 artists, fans, economists, state attorneys general, and industry veterans all weighed in. And the record reveals something important particularly regarding resellers: there’s a rising consensus that the resellers are engaged in some really shady practices designed for one purpose–to extract as much money as possible from fans and artists without regard to the damage it does to the entire artist-fan relationship.

Today we’re posting Georgia Music Partners’ comment that highlights how unchecked secondary ticketing practices—particularly speculative ticket listings, bot-driven price inflation, deceptive branding, and the resale of restricted tickets—are systematically dismantling the live music ecosystem. These practices strip artists of control, mislead fans, and commoditize the artist-fan relationship for the sole benefit of resellers. The comment urges the DOJ and FTC to treat these behaviors as unfair and deceptive trade practices, enforce the BOTS Act, and distinguish reseller abuse from the separate issues posed by Live Nation case, emphasizing that the artist’s intent and trust with fans must be protected.