Taylor Swift, Ticketmaster, and Chokepoint Capitalism with Cory Doctorow

What this episode covers

Why were so many Taylor Swift fans unable to secure tickets for her upcoming US tour? Possible explanations vary, but many have pointed to market power concentration in creative industries, and how it affects the creative class and consumers. Consider Amazon's influence in book publishing, Google/Facebook's advertising duopoly effect on news media, or in Swift's case, Ticketmaster’s control of ticketing and venues for artists. In a new book (co-authored with scholar Rebecca Giblin), Cory Doctorow – a renowned writer and activist – calls this ‘capture’ of creative labor markets "Chokepoint Capitalism." Doctorow joins Bethany and Luigi to discuss the negative effects of concentration, why the doctrine that gave us these market effects is inadequate, and what could be done to return more power and profits to creative workers and beyond – while also asking the question: what are we trying to accomplish with competition itself?

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