We are delighted to host another instalment in our series of public lectures, delivered by Spencer Weber Waller. Spencer Weber Waller is Professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he is the John Paul Stevens Chair in Competition Law and Director of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies.
Professor Spencer Weber Waller is a prominent voice in the antitrust field, and will be known to many legal and economic scholars. But in addition to his undeniable antitrust expertise, he is also at home in discussions about the creative industries, with his latest book delving into the historical power dynamics of the theatre industry and the American Stage. We are delighted therefore to invite you to his CREATe Public Lecture.
His new book Power and Greed: Monopolies, Mergers, and Cartels on the American Stage will be published on October 15th by Methuen Drama. Power and Greed is a general interest history of live entertainment in the United States from the time of vaudeville in the 19th century, commercial theatre in the 20th century, and arena concerts in the 21st century (Live Nation/Ticketmaster). It explains how live entertainment in the U.S. has been dominated by monopolies and cartels for most of its existence and that the resulting abuse of power has harmed the art that we see on stage, the artists, as well as the consumers in higher prices and lower quality performances.
Based on extensive archival research, his book draws together not only the history of power in theatre and how it has shaped which productions and which creators were in the limelight throughout the years, but he also draws these industry dynamics to the present day, with the new bottlenecks of Broadway and modern merger and antitrust disputes against Ticketmaster (Live Nation) with feature roles by the biggest artists such as Pearl Jam and Taylor Swift.
This Public Lecture will kick off the Early Career Scholars Conference: “Competition Law as a Guiding Discipline for Digital Economy”. More information on the programme and registration for the conference can be found here.
Details of the book are available here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/power-and-greed-9781350578098/
A perfect lecture for anyone interested in law, antitrust, creative industries, legal and artistic history, and most of all, theatre!
All are welcome! Attendance is free, but registration is required.
To attend this lecture, please register here.
