Tracing the history of the powerful forces behind live entertainment

When concert ticket prices skyrocket, there’s often a complicated web of business dealings driving high costs—and a history that can be traced back as far as the Gilded Age.

In his new book, Power and Greed: Monopolies, Mergers, and Cartels on the American Stage (Bloomsbury, 2026), Spencer Weber Waller details how powerful business cartels and monopolies have affected the live entertainment industry from the 19th century to today. Waller is the John Paul Stevens Chair in Competition Law, director of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, and professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he teaches antitrust, civil procedure, and consumer courses.

Here, he discusses what the past can tell us about ticket prices, the art we enjoy, and the choices we face today.

How does this book explore the forces that ultimately influence the art we see on stage?

The book looks at the business of live entertainment in the United States from the end of the Civil War to the present day. Monopolies and cartels dominated vaudeville and commercial theater for most of the second half of the 19th century until the 1960s, when the Shubert Organization was broken up for antitrust violations. This kind of market power created a series of harms to customers, performers, and the quality of the shows that were produced, as well as slowed innovation in show business. On average, the firms in charge of producing live entertainment took fewer chances and relied on tried-and-true crowd pleasers because of the business pressures of filling theaters on Broadway and on the road, and left most of the real artistic innovations to others. This kind of power also often resulted in worse pay and working conditions for artists, higher prices for theatergoers, and greater profits for the few at the top.. 

As you note, this isn’t just a history book. We’re seeing these issues play out in our news today.

The last chapters of the book move from history to current events. One of the biggest antitrust issues today is what should be done with Live Nation/Ticketmaster now that the company has been found liable for unlawfully monopolizing the live concert business for arena tours of top stars. A jury awarded damages of over $1 billion. The judge must also decide whether Live Nation should be broken up (sell Ticketmaster and possibly other parts of its business) or merely promise to change certain aspects of its behavior. I suggest that the natural remedy for unlawful monopolization is to change the structure of the industry, so the dominant firm is unable to harm competition, rather than just unrealistically expect the defendant to change its behavior. 

Did your experience teaching antitrust law shape your approach to writing this book?

Students are eager to study how the law can promote economic justice by taming the abuse of power by firms that we depend on in our everyday lives. In and outside of class, I try to highlight the useful role of markets for organizing parts of our economy and the dangers when firms abuse their power, often at the expense of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.  

The creation of this book required extensive research. Who helped you along the way?

I worked with law student research assistants from the very beginning of the project. They were instrumental in helping me gather research materials both legal and theatrical in nature. They did an outstanding job going outside their comfort zone to track down obscure books from the late 1800s, unpublished dissertations, old theater and vaudeville magazines, and local newspapers, many of which remain undigitized. I could not have made it to the finish line without their help and the fantastic work of our reference librarians in the law library, particularly Joe Mitzenmacher. 

Were there any surprising discoveries in your research?

There were several “aha” moments as I dug through mountains of archival materials. First, the early 20th–century industry leaders in both vaudeville and the theater tried to take over live entertainment through collusion, conspiracy, and corruption that would land them in jail today for antitrust, tax, fraud, and securities violations. Second, they did their deeds out in the open, often bragging to the press about their past victories and plans for the future. Third, they truly dreamed of (but never achieved) global domination of live entertainment.

Upcoming Book Launch:

The School of Law will host a book launch for Power and Greed: Monopolies, Mergers, and Cartels on the American Stage on October 26, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., in the 10th Floor Courtroom of the Corboy Law Center on the Water Tower Campus. Waller will be in conversation with James Hagy, a distinguished professor in residence in the School of Law and a published author on the role of professional magicians in vaudeville and theater. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A with the audience, as well as a book signing and reception.