Definitions of the creative industries
Various definitions on what activities to include in the creative industries have been suggested (DCMS 2001, p. 04) (Hesmondhalgh 2002, p. 12)(Howkins 2001, pp. 88–117)(UNCTAD 2008, pp. 11–12) and even the name itself is a contested issue - there being significant differences and overlap between the terms 'creative industries', 'cultural industries' and 'creative economy' (Hesmondhalgh 2002, pp. 11–14)(UNCTAD 2008, p. 12).
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," (Lash & Urry 1994, p. 117). This echoes the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) definition which describes the creative industries as:
- “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.” (DCMS 2001, p. 04)
The current DCMS definition recognises eleven creative sectors, down from fourteen in their 2001 document. They are:
- Advertising
- Architecture
- Arts and antique markets
- Crafts
- Design (see also communication design)
- Designer Fashion
- Film, video and photography
- Software, computer games and electronic publishing
- Music and the visual and performing arts
- Publishing
- Television
- Radio (DCMS 2006)
('Film and video' became 'Film, video and photography; 'Music' and 'performing arts' were combined to form 'Music and the visual and performing arts'; 'Interactive leisure software' was combined with 'Computer services' to form 'Software, computer games and electronic publishing')
To this list John Howkins would add toys and games, and also include the much broader area of research and development in science and technology (Howkins 2001, pp. 88–117).
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 (Hesmondhalgh 2002, pp. 12–14).
The DCMS list has been 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 is often questioned, since it does not generally involve production except of reproductions and fakes. The inclusion of all computer services has also been questioned (Hesmondhalgh 2002, p. 13).
Some nations, 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 the Creative Industries up according to who owns the copyrights at various stages during the production & distribution of creative content.
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).
How creative workers are counted
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:
- all workers employed in creative industries, whether or not creatively occupied (e.g. all musicians, security guards, cleaners, accountants, managers, etc. working for a record company)
- all workers that are creatively occupied, and are not employed in creative industries (for example, a piano teacher in a school). This includes people whose second job is creative, for example somebody who does weekend gigs, writes books, or produces artwork in their spare time
Properties or characteristics of creative industries
According to Caves (2000), creative industries are characterized by seven economic properties:
- Nobody knows principle: Demand uncertainty exists because the consumers' reaction to a product are neither known beforehand, nor easily understood afterward.
- Art for art’s sake: Workers care about originality, technical professional skill, harmony, etc. of creative goods and are willing to settle for lower wages than offered by 'humdrum' jobs.
- Motley crew principle: For relatively complex creative products (e.g., films), the production requires diversely skilled inputs. Each skilled input must be present and perform at some minimum level to produce a valuable outcome.
- Infinite variety: Products are differentiated by quality and uniqueness; each product is a distinct combination of inputs leading to infinite variety options (e.g., works of creative writing, whether poetry, novel, screenplays or otherwise).
- A list/B list: Skills are vertically differentiated. Artists are ranked on their skills, originality, and proficiency in creative processes and/or products. Small differences in skills and talent may yield huge differences in (financial) success.
- Time flies: When coordinating complex projects with diversely skilled inputs, time is of the essence.
- Ars longa: Some creative products have durability aspects that invoke copyright protection, allowing a creator or performer to collect rents.
The properties described by Caves have been criticized for being too rigid (Towse, 2000). Not all creative workers are purely driven by 'art for art's sake'. The 'ars longa' property also holds for certain noncreative products (i.e., licensed products). The 'time flies' property also holds for large construction projects. Creative industries are therefore not unique, but they score generally higher on these properties relative to non-creative industries.
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