Introduction to Creative
Industries
The
word “creative” is around all of us, its seen anywhere you look, advertising,
architecture, arts and antiques, crafts, music, film and video, computer and
videogames, software, publishing, design, fashion, performing arts, etc.
The creative industries refer to a range of economic
activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge
and information. They are also referred to as the cultural
industries.
They
have been seen to become increasingly important to economic well-being,
proponents suggesting that "human creativity is the ultimate economic
resource," and that “the industries of the twenty-first century will
depend increasingly on the generation of knowledge through creativity and
innovation".
Various commentators have provided varying suggestions on what
activities to include in the concept of "creative industries", and
the name itself has become a contested issue, with significant differences and
overlap between the terms "creative industries", "cultural
industries" and "creative economy".
Resources
Sectors.
• Advertising in Britain, employment in advertising,
which includes marketing and some public relations activities, is dominated by
multinational agencies, and is heavily centred on London. The London-based communications
group, Wpp, is the world’s largest by revenue, employing almost 140,000 people
in more than 100 countries.
• Architecture, like many creative industries, the architecture
sub-sector is made up of a handful of big firms and a very large number of
small ones. The sub-sector’s fortunes are closely linked to those of the construction
industry. a number of British architects have achieved international reputations,
including Norman Foster, Richard rogers and David Chipperfield.
• Art and antiques market, this sub-sector includes
dealers and auctioneers of antique jewellery, paintings, sculpture, furniture,
maps, drawings and prints. in Britain, most such businesses are small but some,
notably Sotheby’s and Christie’s, are internationally important.
• Crafts. The dCMs includes textiles, ceramics,
wood, metal, glass, graphic and leather crafts in this category. Businesses in
this field are mostly tiny: 75 per cent are sole traders. The majority of
craftworkers are women and, perhaps surprisingly, are mainly based in urban
areas.
• Design this sub-sector is hard to assess as much
of it is hidden within other industries. The dCMs therefore looked at design
consultancies and designers working in industry. It found that 70 per cent of
British design companies were active abroad. London in particular has a strong
reputation in this field, based on its excellent design schools.
• Fashion design is a relatively small sub-sector,
but is highly integrated into the international market – even small fashion
businesses look to export their products. Britain’s fashion schools have helped
train numerous internationally renowned designers, from John Galliano to Stella
McCartney.
• Film and video this sub-sector includes film
production, distribution and exhibition. Although the UK has a number of
successful home-grown producers, such as Working title, the Hollywood studios
dominate the British market. the number of films produced in Britain, and their
box-office returns, fluctuates considerably from year to year.
• Interactive leisure software this sub-sector
principally consists of computer and video games, but also includes some
educational and reference material. British gaming firms have a reputation for
innovation, but many of the games they develop are sold by foreign-owned
software publishers. dMa design, a Scottish firm responsible for the initial
development of the grand theft auto series of games, is now ultimately owned by
take-two, an American publisher.
• Music this includes both live and recorded music,
music publishing and the administration of music copyright. Britain excels in
most forms of music, from rock and pop to classical, and its consumers spend
more per head on music than almost any other country. eMi, one of the music
industry’s ‘majors’, is based in London.
• Performing arts, theatre, dance, ballet, musicals
and opera performances all fall into this category. These art forms usually
depend on a mix of public subsidy and private ticket sales and funding. some
parts of the sub-sector are nonetheless big revenue earners: London’s West end
theatre, with its wide variety of musicals and plays, is a major tourist
attraction.
• Publishing. The publishing of books, newspapers,
magazines and electronic information is one of the largest employers among the
creative industries. the widespread use of English internationally means that
book publishing in particular is a globally connected industry.
• Software and Computer services, the biggest creative
industry of all in the UK is software and computer services. It covers the
creation, production and supply of tools and applications and of software
products, including web design. the large majority of employment in this
sub-sector is based outside London. American multinationals tend to dominate in
this field, but some British companies do well in niche markets, including
autonomy and sage in business software.
• Television and radio, this sub-sector covers all
public service, commercial, cable and satellite tv and radio, including the
production and broadcasting of programmes. The BBC dominates the British
market, but many independent companies have devised formats which have been
successfully sold abroad. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which has been shown
in more than 100 countries, was developed by the independent company, Celador.
History and Development.
In our interdependent contemporary world at the
start of the 21st century we face complex challenges, polarisation and
inequality within and between nations. Development strategies are needed to
unleash the creative potential of all to respond to the far-reaching cultural,
economic, social and technological shifts that we are living through. In this
context the concept of ‘the creative and cultural economy’ is growing around
the globe as the interface between culture, economics and technology. Our world
is increasingly dominated by images, sounds, symbols and ideas that are
creating new jobs, wealth and new culture. The Uk has been a leader in the
development of this agenda, not just as a driver of the economy but also
promoting social inclusion, diversity and development. No-one can claim a
monopoly on wisdom as innovative creative people all over the world are
changing the way we make and exchange goods, services and culture. This booklet
(and the series it is part of) is a contribution to our shared knowledge and
expertise for this emergent and valuable sector. We hope you find it both
stimulating and useful.
The term “creative industries” originated in the mid
to late 1990s and was first taken up at a national level by the UK’s
government. The concept was an attempt to change the terms of the debate about
the value of arts and culture. While the arts were supported to some degree or
other by most governments, they tended to be seen as marginal to economic life
and dependent on public subsidy. Advocates of the creative industries idea
believed that this was too narrow a view – the totality of economic activity
stemming from creativity and culture, including their commercial forms, needed
to be considered to understand their true contribution. This activity included
not just the traditional art forms, such as theatre, music and film, but
service businesses such as advertising (which sell their creative skills mostly
to other businesses), manufacturing processes that feed into cultural
production, and the retail of creative goods. it was argued that the industries
with their roots in culture and creativity were an important and growing source
of jobs and wealth creation.
The adoption of the creative industries concept was
very much associated with the election of the new labour government in 1997 and
the creation of the, then department for Culture, Media and sport (dCMs), now
department for Culture, Olympics, Media and sport (dCoMs), which built upon the
functions of the earlier department of national heritage. One of the new
department’s first acts was to set up the Creative industries task Force, which
was responsible for the landmark Creative industries Mapping document in 1998
and a follow-up report in 2001. The 1998 mapping document was the first
systematic attempt to define and measure the creative industries. It was
designed both to collect data on the industries and to promote a deeper
understanding of the sector by telling its story in a way that politicians,
journalists, investors, academics and government officials could immediately
understand. it revealed, to the surprise of some, just how economically
significant the creative industries were. it calculated that they accounted for
almost a million jobs and 4 per cent of gdp in Britain, and earned £7.5bn from
exports. it also showed, though, that the sector was polarised between a myriad
of very small firms and sole traders and a handful of very large, often
multinational companies.
The idea of the creative industries soon started to
catch on as it was seen as encapsulating a truth about Britain’s changing
economic landscape. In particular, the definition adopted by the dCMs and the
list of creative industries derived from it soon became influential. The dCMs
regards the creative industries as: ‘those activities 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
property1.’ in its first mapping document in 1998.
Economic
and Cultural importance
According to the latest data, 64,660 people were
employed in the creative industries in Scotland, an increase of 11 per cent on
2003.
Areas in which growth was particularly strong
include music and the visual and performing arts, architecture and software,
computer games and electronic publishing.
Total turnover in the sector in 2007 was £5.2
billion, with gross value added (GVA) around £2.4 billion. This represents
growth (in real terms) of 66 per cent in turnover and 54 per cent in GVA
between 1998 and 2007, and compares with growth of 73 per cent in creative
industries GVA at the UK level. Similarly, Scotland’s creative industries
exports increased by 36 per cent, in real terms, between 2002 and 2007 to a
total value in excess of £3 billion. This accounts for a fifth of the UK’s
total exports in 2007, at a value of £16.6 billion (Scottish Government, 2009)
The creative industries sector in Scotland employs
64,000 people and the total turnover of
businesses operating in this area is estimated to be £4.8 billion.
Scotland’s excellent reputation in the digital media and
creative industries sector has been cemented in recent years by a series of
significant innovations and developments. As new media accelerates, so does the
worldwide demand for new products, innovative technology and enhanced methods
of delivery.
The rapid developments in media, mobility and the
internet are all currently fuelling the growth of digital media and the
creative industries.
In 2007, the Scottish
Government identified a number of key sectors which offer high-growth potential
and the capacity to create economic impact for Scotland. The creative industries
were identified as a sector with massive growth potential.
Scotland's main economic agency, Scottish Enterprise, focuses on growing Scotland's industries, with a particular emphasis on digital content and technologies. With a raft of business support, this booming sector is ripe for investment.
Scotland's main economic agency, Scottish Enterprise, focuses on growing Scotland's industries, with a particular emphasis on digital content and technologies. With a raft of business support, this booming sector is ripe for investment.
Worldwide, the global entertainment and media industry is
predicted to be growing at a rate of 7 per cent annually, with exceptionally
strong growth in the mobile/wireless, internet advertising and video games
sectors.
With a creative culture, strong support and a consistently strong output, for a small country Scotland holds an impressive role at the forefront of this creative revolution.
With a creative culture, strong support and a consistently strong output, for a small country Scotland holds an impressive role at the forefront of this creative revolution.
Sectors
Interaction
Public Sector Interactions
1 Strategic level
Government sets the policy context and holds the
leadership role for creative industries. Its overarching aim is to promote Scotland’s
sustainable growth by ensuring creative industries have the environment and
support to enable them to flourish. The Minister for Culture,
External Affairs and the Constitution is committed to
ensuring Government cultural policy encourages and sustains those who create,
ensures that their work is accessible and guarantees the opportunity to take
part in creative activities. The aim is to support creators, give access to
creations and involve everyone in creativity.
Unlike other more “mature” key sectors, there is no
formal action plan bringing together the strands of work to support creative
industries, although that is not to suggest that work is not on-going. The
Government is committed to delivering on the potential for creative industries and
will draw together an action plan to deliver key outcomes, setting out the
overall direction, identifying the support needed for creative industries to
deliver these outcomes in order to achieve increased growth and productivity
and identifying which bodies will deliver that support. The plan will be
evidence based, identifying what is known about where public sector
intervention is most effective in adding value and areas where no intervention
is necessary. The Government will develop this plan over the next six months,
involving a range of key organisations with the expectation that it will be
finalised and implementation underway by April 2010.
.2 Operational levels
As part of the Government’s simplification agenda, the
delivery landscape is changing.
Creative Scotland is being established, bringing together
the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. This has implications for the
range of organisations involved in providing support to creative practitioners
and an effective partnership approach has been agreed in Scotland‟s Creative
Industries Partnership Report. A wide range of organisations across the public
sector provide support to those involved in creative industries. Organisations such
as Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Scottish Arts
Council and Scottish Screen (which will become Creative Scotland), local
government, skills agencies and further and higher education provide different
services.
The Creative Industries Framework Agreement8 was published
on 5 February 2009 to set out how the complementary roles of the key
organisations will fit together, emphasising the need for an effective
interface and joined up approach. It describes at high level the essence of the
roles:
Creative Scotland will provide research, intelligence
and advocacy across the creative industries and will lead co-ordination
activity in developing the sector. It will develop the functions of the
Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen using its sector specific knowledge,
skills and experience;
The enterprise agencies will identify and develop growth
sectors, sub-sectors and businesses to maximise the economic potential of the
sector.
Local authorities will support creative industries in
their area and have responsibility for the Business Gateway which will provide
generic business advice and signpost to other specialist support and advice.
Creative Industries questions
What is it?
The creative industries
are all the companies working in the creative sector, for example, adverts,
music performances, etc.
The creative industries are the ones to create
everything you see in an event or tv, etc. From logos to banners, colours,
designs, shape, etc.
2. Where did the idea come from?
The idea came from in
the 1998’s with a mapping document that was the first systematic attempt to
define and measure the creative industries. It was designed both to collect
data on the industries and to promote a deeper understanding of the sector by
telling its story in a way that politicians, journalists, investors, academics
and government officials could immediately understand. It revealed, to the
surprise of some, just how economically significant the creative industries
were. It calculated that they accounted for almost a million jobs and 4 per
cent of gdp in Britain, and earned £7.5bn from exports. It also showed.
The idea of the creative industries soon started to
catch on as it was seen as encapsulating a truth about Britain’s changing
economic landscape. The definition adopted by the dCMs and the list of creative
industries derived from it, it became influential. The dCMs regards the
creative industries as: ‘those activities 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 property1.’
3. What are the main vocational areas
within the sector?
The main vocational areas within the sector are advertising, architecture, arts and antiques, crafts,
music, film and video, computer and videogames, software, publishing, design,
fashion and performing arts.
4. Give two examples of
major developments or initiatives affecting the sector over the last ten years.
·
The government is continuing to support content producers in the British creative
industries, offering tax breaks for filmmakers, television
producers, animators and video game producers
·
The Government is also promoting British creative industries domestically and internationally.
5. How is the sector important
to the Scottish economy?
This sector is
important to the Scottish economy because it generates a lot of work
opportunities and therefore a lot of people working and gaining money for the
country
6. Give an example of its cultural
importance to Scotland
The creative industries are vital for
the economy and also good for the culture of the Scotland. With the more jobs
that become available in the creative industries the more talented
people will be trained and will participate in local events like festivals
and exhibitions.
One good example
of this is the “Year of Creative Scotland 2012″. The focus is to promote an
increase in cultural tourism with events and festivals and enhancing
existing festivals that happened in 2012. Festivals include music, dance
but involve people from all parts of the creative industry
to participate in the festivals and events.
This is great for showing the culture
of Scotland and the innovation of our creative industry but
at the same time it means the creative industry is doing its part boasting
the economy through the tourist attraction and the creation of more jobs.
7. How does the Creative
Industries sector differ from the Cultural Industries sector?
Cultural
Industries are an adjunct sector of the creative industries. Cultural
Industries 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. Cultural
Industries are more concerned about delivering other kinds of value, including
cultural wealth and social wealth, rather than primarily providing monetary
value.
8. What is meant by
synergy within the Creative Industries?
Synergy is when two or more
groups come together that have a common goal that will end up in producing an
end product. For example when a musician creates a song they will need the song
advertised, and the advertisers may need film and video sector to produce it
and need software and computer services to edit it, then finally it may be put
on the television or radio which includes another sector. All these sectors
working together to produce a unified end result.
9. Choose a vocational area you may like to work
in. What are some of the key issues facing that area?
Some
of the issues that I might find on the videogames area are:
- Lack of adequately skilled employees issue.
-Getting a job
issue.
-Low quality of
specialist video games courses at universities.
-To develop a
brand new game never seen before.
-To find a
publisher.
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