Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy

by Jonathan Taplin

Overview

The book that started the Techlash.

A stinging polemic that traces the destructive monopolization of the Internet by Google, Facebook and Amazon, and that proposes a new future for musicians, journalists, authors and filmmakers in the digital age.

Move Fast and Break Things is the riveting account of a small group of libertarian entrepreneurs who in the 1990s began to hijack the original decentralized vision of the Internet, in the process creating three monopoly firms -- Facebook, Amazon, and Google -- that now determine the future of the music, film, television, publishing and news industries.

Jonathan Taplin offers a succinct and powerful history of how online life began to be shaped around the values of the men who founded these companies, including Peter Thiel and Larry Page: overlooking piracy of books, music, and film while hiding behind opaque business practices and subordinating the privacy of individual users in order to create the surveillance-marketing monoculture in which we now live.

The enormous profits that have come with this concentration of power tell their own story. Since 2001, newspaper and music revenues have fallen by 70 percent; book publishing, film, and television profits have also fallen dramatically. Revenues at Google in this same period grew from $400 million to $74.5 billion. Today, Google's YouTube controls 60 percent of all streaming-audio business but pay for only 11 percent of the total streaming-audio revenues artists receive. More creative content is being consumed than ever before, but less revenue is flowing to the creators and owners of that content.

The stakes here go far beyond the livelihood of any one musician or journalist. As Taplin observes, the fact that more and more Americans receive their news, as well as music and other forms of entertainment, from a small group of companies poses a real threat to democracy.

Move Fast and Break Things offers a vital, forward-thinking prescription for how artists can reclaim their audiences using knowledge of the past and a determination to work together. Using his own half-century career as a music and film producer and early pioneer of streaming video online, Taplin offers new ways to think about the design of the World Wide Web and specifically the way we live with the firms that dominate it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316275743
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	04/18/2017
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Jonathan Taplin is the Director Emeritus of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, and a former tour manager for Bob Dylan and The Band, as well as a film producer for Martin Scorsese. 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 Taskforce and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's Council on Technology and Innovation.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 The Great Disruption 19

Chapter 2 Levon's Story 33

Chapter 3 Tech's Counterculture Roots 49

Chapter 4 The Libertarian Counterinsurgency 67

Chapter 5 Digital Destruction 89

Chapter 6 Monopoly in the Digital Age 109

Chapter 7 Google's Regulatory Capture 125

Chapter 8 The Social Media Revolution 143

Chapter 9 Pirates of the Internet 173

Chapter 10 Libertarians and the 1 Percent 191

Chapter 11 What It Means to Be Human 213

Chapter 12 The Digital Renaissance 247

Afterword 279

Acknowledgments 287

Notes 289

Index 300

What People are Saying About This

"In a remarkably innovative and precise amalgam of political economy and cultural criticism, Jonathan Taplin delivers a devastating critique of our "knowledge-based" economy. This book is a profound analysis of the devastating impact of the internet economy on the promise of American life." —Benjamin Schwarz, national editor, The American Conservative, former national editor, The Atlantic.

national editor, The American Conservative, former national editor, The Atlantic - Benjamin Schwarz

"In a remarkably innovative and precise amalgam of political economy and cultural criticism, Jonathan Taplin delivers a devastating critique of our "knowledge-based" economy. This book is a profound analysis of the devastating impact of the internet economy on the promise of American life."

host of the Peabody-winning public radio program Studio 360 - Kurt Andersen

"This is an essential book and singular hybrid — lucid alternate history of our digital transformation, juicy memoir of a pioneering culture industry player, and bracing polemic on how our culture was hijacked and might still be redeemed. And my reaction to Move Fast and Break Things was a three-part hybrid too — provoked, enlightened and inspired."

Author of The Rise of American Democracy - Professor Sean Wilentz

"Jonathan Taplin's brave new book unmasks a grid of high tech corporate domination that didn't have to be but that now threatens democracy itself. Like the great muckrakers of a century ago. Taplin explains clearly how that domination works and challenges us to do something about it. Our future may well depend on whether we heed him."

Editorial Reviews

02/27/2017
In this insightful analysis of the intersection of technology and culture, Taplin, director emeritus of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab and a longtime figure in the music and movie industries, explains how the rise of modern Internet monopolies has changed the face of information and entertainment. “The rise of the digital giants is directly connected to the fall of the creative industries in our country, ” he argues as he explores the rise of the Internet, the emergence of new media platforms, and the legacy of the influential players who shaped the way we conduct ourselves online. His focus is on Facebook, Google, and Amazon and the way they gather and sell information, but he also goes back to the earlier days of Napster and other pirate sites to show how the convenience of file sharing affected the entertainment industries as a whole, and likewise looks at how social media affected the 2016 election. The book reads like a collection of essays revolving around a series of related topics; the sections never form a coherent, cohesive whole. Taplin provides a keen, thorough look at the present and future of Americans’ lives as influenced and manipulated by the technological behemoths on which they’ve come to depend. His work is certainly food for thought, even if he’s a little unfocused. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Move Fast and Break Things


A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
An Amazon Best Business & Leadership Book of the year

Longlisted for Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year
A strategy+business Best Business Book of the year
An Inside Higher ED Best Book of the year



"Jonathan Taplin's Move Fast and Break Things argues that the radical libertarian ideology and monopolistic greed of many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs helped to decimate the livelihoods of musicians and is now undermining the communal idealism of the early internet."—Walter Isaacson, New York Times Book Review

"Taplin is uniquely poised to deliver us Move Fast and Break Things, a relentless critique that seeks to answer the above question of why the internet has hindered, rather than helped, those trying to make a living in the arts."
—New York Daily News

"A scathing indictment of these tech companies' greed and arrogance."
—The Guardian

"A radical remedy."—The Economist

"A necessary book that shows how the Internet revolution has damaged the way we interact as human beings, along with democracy itself."
—The Nation

"Taplin brings an informed perspective to his task, and an idiosyncratic background...[his] broader explanation of the upheaval in the music and media industries is illuminating."
—Wall Street Journal

"An impassioned new book...Taplin is at his strongest when he pulls back the curtain on vague and lofty terms such as 'digital disruption' to reveal the effects on individual artists...His prose is bold...his overall point is an important one."—Washington Post

"A solid qualitative and quantitative analysis...most every creator of music and film should welcome the clarion call of Taplin's book."
—Forbes.com

"A breakthrough, must-read book...a tour de force...If you want to understand what has happened to our country and where tech will take us in the era of Trump, put aside some time to read this book. It will take your breath away."
—AlterNet

"An excellent new book...Taplin makes a forceful and persuasive case that companies like Google and Facebook could employ their powerful artificial intelligence programs to prevent the infringement of existing copyright laws."
—Chicago Tribune

"Jonathan Taplin has a bone to pick with Silicon Valley, and it is a big one."—Huffington Post

"Taplin outlines in devastating detail how the digital economy has hurt creative types...a punch to the gut of Silicon Valley's self-righteous posture."
—Fast Company

"An absolute must-read for anyone who wants to gain a little savvy in the internet era."
—Newsweek

"A bracing, unromantic account of how the internet was captured...a timely and useful book. Taplin's book ranges widely over the digital landscape and ventures where most commentators rarely go."—The Guardian

"A stinging polemic that traces the destructive monopolization of the internet by Google and Facebook."—The Australian

"Comprehensive...Where Taplin excels is by putting all this into the context of the changing global economy."—The Times of London

"Required reading...a nuanced look at the downside of what is glibly tossed around as 'disruption' by various cyber-messianic blowhards."—Charles Pierce, Esquire.com

"An important new book...[Taplin is] a smart and thoughtful student of the cultural landscape."—Peter Bart, Deadline Hollywood

"Insightful.... Taplin provides a keen, thorough look at the present and future of Americans' lives as influenced and manipulated by the technological behemoths on which they've come to depend. His work is certainly food for thought."
—Publishers Weekly

"A powerful argument for reducing inequality and revolutionizing how we use the Web for the benefit of the many rather than the few."
—Kirkus Reviews

"The book to read right now is Move Fast And Break Things, by Jonathan Taplin."—Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

"Jonathan Taplin's brave new book unmasks a grid of high tech corporate domination that didn't have to be but that now threatens democracy itself. Like the great muckrakers of a century ago, Taplin explains clearly how that domination works and challenges us to do something about it. Our future may well depend on whether we heed him."
—Professor Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy

"Move Fast and Break Things is a compelling work with a clear central vision and a cumulative power that is convincing ....To read Move Fast and Break Things is to be forced to ponder one's implicit support of technological platforms whose creators are, on matters of markets and deregulation, more closely aligned with the likes of Robert Bork, Paul Ryan, and Grover Norquist than with, say, Ruth Bader Ginsberg...there is a lot at stake in Move Fast and Break Things, and a real urgency to do something about it."—Chapter 16

"Taplin's new book is an eye-opening portrait of the adversaries in the war over control of new ideas and big data, and what it will take to win."
—IP Watchdog

"Taplin does a brilliant job of making his case.... If you're interested in how technology is shaping the world around us, this book is well worth reading."
—Evening Standard (UK)

"In this incisive work, Taplin makes the case that Internet monopolies have reshaped the online marketplace, via data mining and advertising, to enormous, unconstitutional profit....Taplin draws on his own experience in the entertainment industry, wherein he worked as a tour manager for artists like Bob Dylan and the Band, and as a producer for Scorsese. He employs a measured, persuasive tone, and makes a compelling case for re-envisioning the Internet and reinstating value in creating meaningful art. He considers solutions such as a universal basic income, artist co-ops and greater emphasis on community in order to salvage creative cultural output and assess its value....Taplin's topic is as important as his arguments are enlightening."
—Shelf Awareness

"Taplin writes eloquently and passionately about the human toll of the Internet age.... This is not a "technology book" because that term would be far too limiting. By reading Move Fast, we can understand much of the acceptance of Donald Trump in 2016."
—Jon Friedman

From the Publisher

05/15/2017
Taplin's (director emeritus, Univ. of Southern California Annenberg Innovation Lab) prose is like a web search: he pulls in multiple topics, uses frequent citations, and fires ideas at lightning speed. In the end, readers understand how this swirl of ideas, facts, and mistruths describe Facebook, Google, and Amazon as anarcho-libertarian economic monopolies. Lawless digital companies steal, hoard, and sell popular culture. Online monopolies rob artists, writers, and musicians of payment and sell information that online users unwittingly provide for free. Libertarian robber barons such as PayPal founder Peter Thiel, Larry Page of Google, and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, worship unregulated online and real-world markets, and fiercely fight any attempt at democratic control. The dream of an Internet of ideas has morphed into an intrusive and spectacularly profitable market for those who possess digital content. VERDICT This fast-paced dissection of the inner workings of the Internet will fascinate anyone using it—and make them want to drop off the grid.—Duncan Stewart, Univ. of Iowa Libs., Iowa City

Library Journal

2017-02-20
When American representative democracy collapses, blame it on Facebook.The internet can be used for immoral purposes, writes tech pioneer Taplin, director emeritus of USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab, from selling drugs and pornography to enabling the piracy of intellectual property. It can also be used to do good, enhancing the economies of remote places by linking them to the world. But if it is largely amoral, that, by Taplin's account, owes little to those who are making fortunes on the Web by controlling and selling information and ransoming eyeballs. Among Taplin's heavies are Facebook, Google, and PayPal, as exemplified by founders and executives Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Peter Thiel, the last of whom emerges as a kind of dark lord of the Hobbesian, libertarian internet (a characterization echoed by other observers). Google enables piracy, guiding readers to sites where albums and movies can be downloaded. Though hiding behind a do-no-evil mantra, Google could simply stop listing pirate sites just as it stopped listing illegal drug sites—"after it paid a $500 million fine for linking" to them. What does all this have to do with democracy? For one thing, it promotes inequality—and, as Taplin notes, with Robert Bork's "protrust" view of antitrust laws now dominant in legal and governmental circles, monopolies are often encouraged rather than prohibited. For another, it narrows choice despite the seemingly endless offerings of Amazon, Wal-Mart, et al. The author offers a modest program of resistance, among whose planks is the interesting notion that creators, especially musicians, would do well to follow the Sunkist model, forming cooperatives to control their works just as citrus growers banded together in common interest. "I have no illusion that the existing business structures of cultural marketing will go away," he writes, "but my hope is that we can build a parallel structure that will benefit all creators." A powerful argument for reducing inequality and revolutionizing how we use the Web for the benefit of the many rather than the few.

Kirkus Reviews