Creative industries
The creative industries refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information. They may variously also be referred to as the cultural industries (especially in Europe)[1] or the creative economy,[2] and most recently they have been denominated as the Orange Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean.[3]
Howkins' creative economy comprises advertising, architecture, art, crafts, design, fashion, film, music, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, toys and games, TV and radio, and video games.[4] Some scholars consider that the education industry, including public and private services, are forming a part of the creative industries.[5] There remain, therefore, different definitions of the sector.[6]
The creative industries have been seen to become increasingly important to economic well-being, proponents suggesting that "human creativity is the ultimate economic resource",[7] and that "the industries of the twenty-first century will depend increasingly on the generation of knowledge through creativity and innovation".[8]
Various commentators have provided varying suggestions on what activities to include in the concept of "creative industries",[9] and the name itself has become a contested issue – with significant differences and overlap between the terms "creative industries", "cultural industries" and "creative economy" l.[10]
Lash and Urry suggest that each of the creative industries has an "irreducible core" concerned with "the exchange of finance for rights in intellectual property".[11] This echoes the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) definition which describes the creative industries as:
As of 2015 the DCMS definition recognizes nine creative sectors, namely:[13]
To this list John Howkins would add toys and games, also including the much broader area of research and development in science and technology.[4] It has also been argued that gastronomy belongs in such a list.[14]
The various fields of engineering do not appear on this list, that emerged from the DCMS reports. This was due, probably, to the fact that engineers occupy relevant positions in "non-cultural" corporations, performing activities of project, management, operation, maintenance, risk analysis and supervision, among others. However, historically and presently, several tasks of engineers can be regarded as highly creative, inventive and innovative. The contribution of engineering is represented by new products, processes and services.
Hesmondhalgh reduces the list to what he terms "the core cultural industries" of advertising and marketing, broadcasting, film, internet and music industries, print and electronic publishing, and video and computer games. His definition only includes those industries that create "texts"' or "cultural artefacts" and which engage in some form of industrial reproduction.[15]
The DCMS list has proven influential, and many other nations have formally adopted it. It has also been criticised. It has been argued that the division into sectors obscures a divide between lifestyle business, non-profits, and larger businesses, and between those who receive state subsidies (e.g., film) and those who do not (e.g., computer games). The inclusion of the antiques trade often comes into question, since it does not generally involve production (except of reproductions and fakes). The inclusion of all computer services has also been questioned.[16]
Some areas, such as Hong Kong, have preferred to shape their policy around a tighter focus on copyright ownership in the value chain. They adopt the WIPO's classifications, which divide up the creative industries according to who owns the copyrights at various stages during the production and distribution of creative content.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has denominated them for Latin America and the Caribbean as the Orange Economy[17] which is defined as the "group of linked activities through which ideas are transformed into cultural goods and services whose value is determined by intellectual property."
Others have suggested a distinction between those industries that are open to mass production and distribution (film and video; videogames; broadcasting; publishing), and those that are primarily craft-based and are meant to be consumed in a particular place and moment (visual arts; performing arts; cultural heritage).
The DCMS classifies enterprises and occupations as creative according to what the enterprise primarily produces, and what the worker primarily does. Thus, a company which produces records would be classified as belonging to the music industrial sector, and a worker who plays piano would be classified as a musician.
The primary purpose of this is to quantify – for example it can be used to count the number of firms, and the number of workers, creatively employed in any given location, and hence to identify places with particularly high concentrations of creative activities.
It leads to some complications which are not immediately obvious. For example, a security guard working for a music company would be classified as a creative employee, although not as creatively occupied.
The total number of creative employees is then calculated as the sum of:
Difference from the 'cultural industries'[edit]
There is often a question about the boundaries between creative industries and the similar term of cultural industries. Cultural industries are best described as an adjunct-sector of the creative industries. Cultural industries include industries that focus on cultural tourism and heritage, museums and libraries, sports and outdoor activities, and a variety of 'way of life' activities that arguably range from local pet shows to a host of hobbyist concerns. Thus cultural industries are more concerned about delivering other kinds of value—including cultural wealth and social wealth—rather than primarily providing monetary value. (See also cultural institutions studies.)
Wider role[edit]
As some first world countries struggle to compete in traditional markets such as manufacturing, many now see the creative industry as a key component in a new knowledge economy, capable perhaps of delivering urban regeneration, often through initiatives linked to exploitation of cultural heritage that leads to increased tourism. It is often argued that, in future, the ideas and imagination of countries like the United Kingdom will be their greatest asset; in support of this argument, a number of universities in the UK have started to offer creative entrepreneurship as a specific area for study and research. Indeed, UK government figures reveal that the UK's creative industries account for over a million jobs and brought in billion to the UK economy (DCMS Creative Industries Mapping Document 2001), although the data sets underlying these figures are open to question.
In recent years, creative industries have become 'increasingly attractive to governments outside the developed world'.[27] In 2005, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XI High Level Panel on Creative Industries and Development commissioned several studies to identify challenges and opportunities facing the growth and development of creative industries in developing industries. As Cunningham et al. (2009) put it, 'the harnessing of creativity brings with it the potential of new wealth creation, the cultivation of local talent and the generation of creative capital, the development of new export markets, significant multiplier effects throughout the broader economy, the utilisation of information communication technologies and enhanced competitiveness in an increasingly global economy'. A key driver of interest in creative industries and development is the acknowledgement that the value of creative production resides in ideas and individual creativity, and developing countries have rich cultural traditions and pools of creative talent which lay a basic foundation for creative enterprises. Reflecting the growing interest in the potential of creative industries in developing countries, in October 2011 a Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy was created within the Indonesian government with well-known economist Mari Pangestu appointed as the first minister to hold the position.