As it does elsewhere in the gilded economy, such consolidation results in stagnation, fewer jobs, reduced capacity, homogeneity, and higher prices. Total movie ticket sales are on a steady decline, although profits have been propped up by increasing ticket prices, particularly 3D and IMAX surcharges, as well as continued expansion into global markets, especially China. Hollywood is not yet the oligopoly of three (Universal, Warner, and Sony) that the recorded music industry has become, but if that industry's experience with private equity and financialization is any indication, further concentration and inequality in Hollywood is on the horizon.

XREF: Parallels recorded music oligopoly and broader gilded-economy consolidation patterns.

Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 308