> they can but don't really have substantial control over the publishing industry Academics (professors, heads of departments, etc) are selecting the books to

> they can but don't really have substantial control over the publishing industry Academics (professors, heads of departments, etc) are selecting the books to be used in their classes/programs. They're the king-makers. They're the gatekeeper for which of a publisher's books potentially hundreds of students are required to purchase. This includes requiring students buy books containing one time use codes and books that re-version every couple of years driving up costs further. The only people able to stop the publishing industry's abusive practice towards students is academic staff that refuse to do so, and have a duty to do so. The fact that nobody holds a professor responsible for assigning a $100+ book, with a one time use code, and a yearly re-versioning is absurd and why it continues to this day. > Ticketmaster contracts with venues And performers select the venue. If performers avoided venues with ticketmaster requirements, venues would likely be forced to offer a non-ticketmaster bundled option (particularly for very popular/famous artists).