Chokepoint Capitalism: how big tech and big content captured creative labour markets, and how we’ll win them back
- Downloads：7982
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-01-20 06:51:57
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Rebecca Giblin
- ISBN：1915590019
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
A call to action for the creative class and labour movement to rally against the power of Big Tech and Big Media。
Corporate concentration has breached the stratosphere， as have corporate profits。 An ever-expanding constellation of industries are now monopolies （where sellers have excessive power over buyers） or monopsonies （where buyers hold the whip hand over sellers） — or both。
Scholar Rebecca Giblin and writer and activist Cory Doctorow argue we’re in a new era of ‘chokepoint capitalism’， with exploitative businesses creating insurmountable barriers to competition that enable them to capture value that should rightfully go to others。 All workers are weakened by this， but the problem is especially well illustrated by the plight of creative workers。 From Amazon’s use of digital rights management and bundling to radically change the economics of book publishing， to Google and Facebook’s siphoning away of ad revenues from news media， and the Big Three record labels’ use of inordinately long contracts to up their own margins at the cost of artists， chokepoints are everywhere。
By analysing book publishing and news， live music and music streaming， screenwriting， radio， and more， Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct ‘anti-competitive flywheels’ designed to lock in users and suppliers， make their markets hostile to new entrants， and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices。
In the book’s second half， Giblin and Doctorow explain how to batter through those chokepoints， with tools ranging from transparency rights to collective action and ownership， radical interoperability， contract terminations， job guarantees， and minimum wages for creative work。
Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to workers of all sectors to unite to help smash these chokepoints and take back the power and profit that’s being heisted away — before it’s too late。
Corporate concentration has breached the stratosphere， as have corporate profits。 An ever-expanding constellation of industries are now monopolies （where sellers have excessive power over buyers） or monopsonies （where buyers hold the whip hand over sellers） — or both。
Scholar Rebecca Giblin and writer and activist Cory Doctorow argue we’re in a new era of ‘chokepoint capitalism’， with exploitative businesses creating insurmountable barriers to competition that enable them to capture value that should rightfully go to others。 All workers are weakened by this， but the problem is especially well illustrated by the plight of creative workers。 From Amazon’s use of digital rights management and bundling to radically change the economics of book publishing， to Google and Facebook’s siphoning away of ad revenues from news media， and the Big Three record labels’ use of inordinately long contracts to up their own margins at the cost of artists， chokepoints are everywhere。
By analysing book publishing and news， live music and music streaming， screenwriting， radio， and more， Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct ‘anti-competitive flywheels’ designed to lock in users and suppliers， make their markets hostile to new entrants， and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices。
In the book’s second half， Giblin and Doctorow explain how to batter through those chokepoints， with tools ranging from transparency rights to collective action and ownership， radical interoperability， contract terminations， job guarantees， and minimum wages for creative work。
Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to workers of all sectors to unite to help smash these chokepoints and take back the power and profit that’s being heisted away — before it’s too late。
Reviews
MH
，
A good look at the modern problem of oligarchs and their toll-gates， focused on the creative industries。 Its a bit too dismissive of anti-trust moves， but generally very good。
Missy Caswell
，
Well written。 Gives good insight into how capitalism uses chokepoints in companies like Amazon， Apple， Microsoft， etc in the forest half， and then moves into the music/film/social media industries vis-a-vis copyrights and monopolies in the second half。 Overall I enjoyed it and thought it was interesting to gain perspective of the behind the scenes thinking and strategies that are used to thwart competitors。
Walter Zielkowski
，
Well researched book， talks about ebooks， music， search engines， and other companies and how their tactics exclude other businesses and push down wages。
db
，
Wish everyone would read this book to help make their life better， as well as their children’s lives better。
Phillip
，
Some good ideas can be found here， but there’s a lot of drivel about requiring the government to solve everything so artists can fix the climate。 If that sounds confusing， wait until you read the rest of the book。
Brayden Raymond
，
I have a lot to say about this， too much to include in a Goodreads review truly。 What I will say is while I knew some of the general points and arguments， Giblin and Doctorow do a fantastic job at expanding and staying glued to their focus of this book。 It's extremely readable and the authors readily recognize that some parts will be tricky to understand。 I believe this should be required reading （or at least parts） for anyone who's ever read a book， listened to music， watched a TV show or movie I have a lot to say about this， too much to include in a Goodreads review truly。 What I will say is while I knew some of the general points and arguments， Giblin and Doctorow do a fantastic job at expanding and staying glued to their focus of this book。 It's extremely readable and the authors readily recognize that some parts will be tricky to understand。 I believe this should be required reading （or at least parts） for anyone who's ever read a book， listened to music， watched a TV show or movie， read the news online， played video games， or otherwise engaged in creative labour markets。 。。。more
Heather
，
A modern guide to understanding the underpinnings of capitalism and why Oligarchs love it so。
Miguel
，
Perhaps because this is such well trodden ground or maybe it’s an issue of dual authorship but this wasn’t as engaging as it could have been。
Harry
，
An excellent and enlightening read。 Thought provoking and we'll put together。 An excellent and enlightening read。 Thought provoking and we'll put together。 。。。more
Flaviu
，
A grim past， even grimmer present and a future I don't want to even imagine。 Highly recommend everyone read this but I consider it essential reading for anybody in the creative industries。 A grim past， even grimmer present and a future I don't want to even imagine。 Highly recommend everyone read this but I consider it essential reading for anybody in the creative industries。 。。。more
Sean Carlin
，
Essential reading for content creators in all fields related to arts and entertainment。 It's a dense treatise that requires applied concentration at times， especially when it goes into the minutiae of subjects like copyright law， but Giblin and Doctorow make a persuasive case for systemically reforming the extractive practices of neoliberal capitalism that are retarding the culture， degrading the planet， and eroding quality of life for all。 Essential reading for content creators in all fields related to arts and entertainment。 It's a dense treatise that requires applied concentration at times， especially when it goes into the minutiae of subjects like copyright law， but Giblin and Doctorow make a persuasive case for systemically reforming the extractive practices of neoliberal capitalism that are retarding the culture， degrading the planet， and eroding quality of life for all。 。。。more
Ali
，
Wow。 This book was a great read。 Yes it goes into all the problems， but it actually leaves me with a modicum if hope。 The prose is great and the topic interesting or even essential。
Laura
，
Capitalism says it's about competition。 Capitalism as practiced is about monopoly and monopsony。 Antitrust legislation can keep competition meaningful。 The Chicago school convinced the government not to。 This is a tough book。 It's a catalog of some of the ways big market players use their dominance to prevent competition and suck value out of creators。 It's also a sobering look at how governments help them with， Doctorow and Giblin suggest， democracy-distorting results。 A powerful and depressing Capitalism says it's about competition。 Capitalism as practiced is about monopoly and monopsony。 Antitrust legislation can keep competition meaningful。 The Chicago school convinced the government not to。 This is a tough book。 It's a catalog of some of the ways big market players use their dominance to prevent competition and suck value out of creators。 It's also a sobering look at how governments help them with， Doctorow and Giblin suggest， democracy-distorting results。 A powerful and depressing book。 。。。more
spooky johnson
，
Very interesting and accessible read。 A bit dense and repetitive at times; take a shot every time the word “chokepoint” is used。 While I agree with almost everything the authors had to say， I did find some of their solutions to be a bit…idealistic at times。 The future archivist in me wants to believe that we could one day have free access to media and our artists are being treated fairly- but it seems so unattainable and moot at times。 Anyway， a good book！ Highly recommend to anyone who wants to Very interesting and accessible read。 A bit dense and repetitive at times; take a shot every time the word “chokepoint” is used。 While I agree with almost everything the authors had to say， I did find some of their solutions to be a bit…idealistic at times。 The future archivist in me wants to believe that we could one day have free access to media and our artists are being treated fairly- but it seems so unattainable and moot at times。 Anyway， a good book！ Highly recommend to anyone who wants to remember how shitty capitalism is。 。。。more
Edwin McRae
，
The most important book I’ve read this year！！
Brian
，
The chapters telling the problems are great。 It makes me want to opt-out of being a consumer。The final chapter where they get into their "solution" turns into socialist propaganda。Overall I recommend reading it as it is eye opening。 The chapters telling the problems are great。 It makes me want to opt-out of being a consumer。The final chapter where they get into their "solution" turns into socialist propaganda。Overall I recommend reading it as it is eye opening。 。。。more
Myles
，
I thought this was an excellent if one-sided critique of the stranglehold big business has on the income of independent artists and creators in a wide spectrum of the creative industries。To take one example， it had always been my assumption that copyright law worked in favour of music creators and performers。Giblin and Doctorow show how copyright benefits routinely flow to the record labels and their corporate overlords for many years， sometimes generations， while the artists themselves spend th I thought this was an excellent if one-sided critique of the stranglehold big business has on the income of independent artists and creators in a wide spectrum of the creative industries。To take one example， it had always been my assumption that copyright law worked in favour of music creators and performers。Giblin and Doctorow show how copyright benefits routinely flow to the record labels and their corporate overlords for many years， sometimes generations， while the artists themselves spend themselves into penury paying off the debts of music production and “development。”Do talent agents always seek the best deal for their clients？ Well， not necessarily， especially when the talent agency possesses equity in the production studio？Or when music labels have equity in Spotify。In the creative industries as in many others the logic of private equity forces down the wages of labour。 Luck favours the rich。The authors favour corrective measures to level the playing field including reverting copyright to creatives after a reasonable period， fairer reporting of residual benefits， accessible accounting， and mandatory disclosure of financial conflict of interests。Measures the EU have enacted contrary to public perception likely entrench the interests of the tech oligopolies and oligopsonies （read: “all powerful buyers like amazon”） by making the barriers to entry increasingly filled with endless read tape only the rich can navigate。So the field is complex， littered with good intentions， and a minefield of conflicts of interest。 。。。more
Darrell
，
An excellent， in depth look at what modern tech giants （and other not no modern giants） do to maximize their profits at the cost of the artist， creator， or worker。 Strongly recommend to anyone interested in the modern work world and what we can do to reclaim some of it for those who make， create， or provide。
Randy Kays
，
Every artist should read this and you ， too。
Quoll
，
A blistering and yet fair criticism of many recent corporate technology practices。 Fortunately， it isn't all doom and gloom。 The book provides reasonable and well considered intervention strategies to redirect the future balance between the creative labour market and corporations。 A blistering and yet fair criticism of many recent corporate technology practices。 Fortunately， it isn't all doom and gloom。 The book provides reasonable and well considered intervention strategies to redirect the future balance between the creative labour market and corporations。 。。。more
Szymon Kulec
，
4 out of 5， I really liked it。The book is split in two parts。 While the first focuses on problems， the second delivers proposes solutions。 This split makes it really interesting to read。 Authors did amazing work and you can learn a lot about problems without their proposed solutions sinking in。 The first part is really deep， describing various examples of monopolies， monopsonies and other extractive systems。 The intellectual rights are shown from a perspective of extraction and it really makes y 4 out of 5， I really liked it。The book is split in two parts。 While the first focuses on problems， the second delivers proposes solutions。 This split makes it really interesting to read。 Authors did amazing work and you can learn a lot about problems without their proposed solutions sinking in。 The first part is really deep， describing various examples of monopolies， monopsonies and other extractive systems。 The intellectual rights are shown from a perspective of extraction and it really makes you wonder whether there's a single case that it helped authors。 The second part is。。。 much less interesting。The second part of the book provides solutions。 When some external ideas are described， like exponential payments for a song until you buy it， things proposed by authors have a vibe of hand waving。 It almost feels like the second part was written by a different set of authors。The last part that should be mentioned is language。 While you'll find far right there， there's no far left but only some social causes。 This is just a bit funny and does not impact the book in general as the chokepoints are real。 。。。more
Ray
，
I listened to the audiobook because I love Doctorow's work。 Now I'm a fan of Giblin too。Since I listened to it， I don't have in depth notes about it。 But the gist of it is that companies make it more difficult for creators and or consumers to switch to other platforms and then negotiate really hard against them。 There's lots of inspiration for how that can change。For a better summary read Doctorow's blog post about it: https://doctorow。medium。com/what-is-c。。。 I listened to the audiobook because I love Doctorow's work。 Now I'm a fan of Giblin too。Since I listened to it， I don't have in depth notes about it。 But the gist of it is that companies make it more difficult for creators and or consumers to switch to other platforms and then negotiate really hard against them。 There's lots of inspiration for how that can change。For a better summary read Doctorow's blog post about it: https://doctorow。medium。com/what-is-c。。。 。。。more
Tom Niebergall
，
Flywheels out of control。Flywheels out of control。More appreciate name for book might be: - “Perverted Capitialistic Behavior”More appreciate name for this book might be: - “Perverted Capitialistic Behavior”
Sebastian Gebski
，
Super-interesting topic。 And quite a good book。Just to be clear: this book is not a general complaint about big tech and the exploitation of the masses - it's dedicated precisely to creative job markets （artists）， and it's far from being generic or populistic。 Quite the contrary - especially its first part is filled with very interesting details and some in-depth analysis。Parts， yes， let's talk about parts - it's very important。 So the book consists of two: a description of the problem and a des Super-interesting topic。 And quite a good book。Just to be clear: this book is not a general complaint about big tech and the exploitation of the masses - it's dedicated precisely to creative job markets （artists）， and it's far from being generic or populistic。 Quite the contrary - especially its first part is filled with very interesting details and some in-depth analysis。Parts， yes， let's talk about parts - it's very important。 So the book consists of two: a description of the problem and a description of the （potential） solution（s）。 The first one is nearly flawless - rational， to the point， industry after industry - 5 undisputed stars。 Unfortunately， the second one is lacking: the majority of the solutions seem to be in the right direction， but they lack specificity， detail， and - in the end - they go nuts （guaranteed jobs， minimum payments， etc。）。 It's not really surprising， keeping in mind Doctorow's political opinions， but I still was very disappointed - I don't think these proposals （well， maybe except for the time limitations for the rights） will make things progress 。。。 So， unfortunately， the second part is 2。5 stars tops。The 2nd part doesn't disqualify the book - by all means， no！ The problem described here is so important that everyone should take a look and make her/his own opinion。 Regardless of whether he/she likes the proposed solutions or not。 Solid 4 stars。 Recommended。 。。。more
Eric Mesa
，
Rebecca Giblin and Corey Doctorow have written an incredibly important book for everyone to read， whether you're a producer or consumer of cultural products （books， movies， music， etc）。 They do a great job of explaining how， over a bunch of industries， a handful of companies have made themselves into both monopolies and monopsonies。 This allows them to screw over both the producers and the consumers by being the sole buyer and seller。 Also shows how certain things like Spotify playlists are actu Rebecca Giblin and Corey Doctorow have written an incredibly important book for everyone to read， whether you're a producer or consumer of cultural products （books， movies， music， etc）。 They do a great job of explaining how， over a bunch of industries， a handful of companies have made themselves into both monopolies and monopsonies。 This allows them to screw over both the producers and the consumers by being the sole buyer and seller。 Also shows how certain things like Spotify playlists are actually pretty insidious。 （Spoiler: it's because they train you not to care about the artist so that if the artist threatens to take their music off， no one will care）The final chapter is key because the authors show that these changes are coming for all the industries， not just the creative ones。 This should， I hope， create a better case for solidarity against the consolidation of companies。 。。。more
W。L。 Bolm
，
Whether you enjoy the work of others or create， whether it’s music， books， art， or TV and film， you should read this book。 It brings attention to the problems inherent in how we pay people for their labor， how tech is making these problems worse， and ways we can fix it。
Florin Pitea
，
Necessary reading for our times。 Recommended。
JW
，
Essential reading for any creative trying to make a buck in the 2020s。
Lance Eaton
，
I'm a big fan of Cory Doctorow and this was now the second Kickstarter of his that I have participated in to help produce an audiobook。 And the money was more than worth it because Giblin and Doctorow bring an analysis of capitalism that is next level。 To me， it goes where Shoshana Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism doesn't and blends in a good deal of Naomi Klein's work about capitalism。 The initial framing of the book focuses on the fact that while we have some safeguards against monopolies， we I'm a big fan of Cory Doctorow and this was now the second Kickstarter of his that I have participated in to help produce an audiobook。 And the money was more than worth it because Giblin and Doctorow bring an analysis of capitalism that is next level。 To me， it goes where Shoshana Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism doesn't and blends in a good deal of Naomi Klein's work about capitalism。 The initial framing of the book focuses on the fact that while we have some safeguards against monopolies， we do not have real safeguards from oligopolies or monopsonies。 Many industries （particularly creative industries such as books， music， film， television， comics， etc） are held up by oligopolies wherein a few large companies control most of the market and because of that， they can （albeit illegally） collective work to control pricing and services to a degree unprecedented。 Coupled with this nefarious practice is monopsony， wherein companies like Amazon， Google， and LiveNation the like， become the singular buyer in a market （books， ads， ticket selling， etc）， which means companies and individual sellers are beholder and cut off from their customers unless they adhere to the practices and prices dictated by the intermediary。 This rent-seeking practice shows up every and does much to hurt a thriving and diverse community of ideas， artistic creations， and experiences。 That's the first half of the book and boy， it's damning but also quite insightful。 In the second half， Giblin and Doctorow explore examples of resistance as well as recommendations for systemic approaches to addressing the problems。 That， like most books， is where it falters a bit in that they all seem pie in the sky and we are not able as an individual to plug into them as well as we might。 It is a structural issue and yet， if folks don't feel they have the capacity or even the fullest understanding of how to do the small things up through the systematic things， I think it feels harder to do anything other than feel frustrated。 Still--one of the best analyses on capitalism that I've read。 。。。more
Randall Drum
，