Have Internet Giants Taken Over Creative Culture?

The beginning of the 21st century brought with it the emergence of three fledgling businesses that would soon redefine America’s notion of a decentralized internet. Over the last fifteen years, Facebook, Google, and Amazon have created powerful monopolies that now control the economic success of the journalism, music, video, and book industries. These monopolies have allowed Facebook, Google, and Amazon to experience an unprecedented amount of revenue growth, while their content creators have seen an equally dramatic decrease in earnings. In Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy, Jonathan Taplin uses his own extensive experience as a music and film producer to explore the real consequences average consumers stand to face if this monopolistic activity goes unchecked and to recommend potential solutions.

Jonathan Taplin is Director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. He began his entertainment career in 1969 as Tour Manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. In 1973 he produced Martin Scorsese’s first feature film, Mean Streets, which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. An expert in digital media entertainment, Taplin is a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and sits on the California Broadband Task Force and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Council on Technology and Innovation. 

Reception and registration will open at 5:30 pm; followed by the conversation at 6:00 pm. 

Books will be available for purchase by credit card or check. 

Follow the conversation online using #InternetMonopolies and following @NewAmerica.

Participant:

Jonathan Taplin
Director Emeritus, USC Annenberg Innovation Lab
Author, Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy
@JonathanTaplin

Moderator:

Franklin Foer
Correspondent, The Atlantic
Former Editor, The New Republic
@FranklinFoer