Cultural Industries - Essay Example

? Critically assess the ways in which cities have sought to develop creative and cultural industries as a focus for social and cultural regeneration.Use case study examples in your discussion. Culture has always played a very important in the economic growth of any country. A number of countries have utilized their culture for development of industries and have achieved economic growth and development. Culture has been used for competition as well as consumption. The cultural industries have acquired a productive dimension (Pratt, 2008).The creative cities have grown up due to the cultural policies implemented by countries and are also known as creative clusters. The element of creativity that has been present in the local planning structure and policies of such countries have led to the development of the cultural industries. The mangers and other business academicians have always recommended creativity for business prosperity. This creativity has culminated into success of cultural industries. Industries such as theater, television as well as software can be cited as examples of cultural industries (Hesmondhalgh, 2007, p.142). International Organizations like UNESCO have also adopted cultural policies like the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity Initiative in 2004 in favor of these creative cities which have facilitated development of cultural industries. Establishment of schools and institutions focusing on the regions cultural music is also an instance of how cultural industries have grown over the years (Isar, 2009, p.281). Thus the sense of creativity and the region’s cultural practices has played a key role in establishing industries that focus on cultural regeneration. The current paper provides an access to the ways by which creative and cultural industries focusing on social and cultural regeneration have developed in some cities through various findings and case examples. Creativity existing within such creative cities has positively contributed to development of urbanization. Effective instruments and policy measures that have been undertaken in these cities solely concentrate on the region’s cultural practices existing within the society. Cultural or creative industries happen to be an outcome of integration of the activities of production and consumption in these cities. Culture always has immense influence on consumption. These cities also tend to preserve the underlying duality existing between manufacturing and services (Pratt, 2008). Ways adopted for development of cultural industries In 2001the value of creative industries in United States has been computed as US $791.2 billion. Such a value amounts to 7.75 percent of the total GDP of the country. Employment level in these industries has also been quite high. These industries have hired about eight million people. People have been lured by the country’s culture and there has been a growing demand for the cultural products. These industries have exported and sold goods worth US $88.97 billion. The sales value has been greater than that computed for other industries such as chemicals, aircraft, electronics and automobile industries. For Australia too, the value computed I found to be as high as $A25 billion. The statistics speak itself for the emerging success of these creative industries. Creativity results in creating innovated products. Such innovations are essential for cultural industries as well as for other industries (Hartley, 2005, pp.1-2). Human intelligence and creativity have always proved beneficial for industrial development and thus has yielded the desired level of outcome. Moreover the other booming industries such as the information technology, financial services and the telecom industries are getting blurred with the capabilities of our imagination. They may also be thought of collapsing in the near future (Hartley, 2005, p.117). These creative industries which are developed out of culture and art are known to be more responsible towards the small scale enterprises and nonprofit organizations. This can be looked upon as one of the most important merits of these creative industries. Moreover it is not dependent on space. It is only a phenomenon that requires considerable brainwork (Hartley, 2005, p.119). Creative cities have sought to develop cultural industries by means of writing and publishing works. These are economical industries that have grown up even without sufficient spaces. It is only the talent of writers and writing skills that matter. Freelance writers have also considered writing as a good form of day job. Traditional writers have earned their livelihood by focusing on the literature works if a particular community. Over the years several industries have grown up with the emergence of such native writers. However many of them includes those who have migrated from elsewhere. For instance many publishing houses have grown densely in New York possessing the workforce of such writers. However the growth of such industries has never been consistent. Many ups and downs have been witnessed in the course of development of such cultural industries (Caves, 2000, p.33). Cultural industries have also grown up in cities centering those talented musicians and singers of the region. The cities may be local rock bands performing at concerts. Their talent as well as self confidence may reward them in terms of huge opportunities. Cities can also screen out such talent through popular talent hunt auditions. These rising talents may find an established future by performing for well known clubs. Again groups able to get necessary equipments and earnings from day to day concerts can obtain huge contracts from these record companies. Many record companies in cities have flourished owing to such great talents and are constantly in search of the fresh ones. However earnings on regular basis are a precondition for growth of these band groups. Also they require obtaining certain managerial skills for proper management and success of such groups (Caves, 2000, pp.34-35). The regions’ music has always contributed positively to the development of cultural industries through setting up of numerous music schools and related institutions for giving necessary training in classical music. For instance the music schools in America have given performance degrees to about 14000 graduates. The availability of musicians like concert pianist has also increased considerably over the years. The number of pianists who were able to give solo performances was found to be 572 in the year 1990. The number was only 199 during the 70s era. The orchestra companies recently have upto 350 job openings for fresh graduates. The empirical figures point to the fact that these cultural or creative industries have been steadily growing in America. This is because more training is being imparted to the aspiring musicians and more number of students is graduating from these music schools. Moreover nonprofit concerts and competition tickets are bought by many audiences. They also receive fair amount of donations from the private as well as governmental organizations. This helps in accumulation of more stock of cultural capital (Caves, 2000, p.35). The creative cities may depend upon various television series or movies in order to develop their cultural industries. Such televisions are very helpful to attract and drag people towards the region’s culture. Viewers are deeply influenced by region’s identities and images. Examples can be cited of the Australian popular television shows like Crocodile Dundee and The Man from Snowy River which has got praises from all over the world mainly because of the images displayed. Recently the television series Sea Change which shows life of a family dwelling in a small town beside sea has become very popular. Such a presentation of the region’s culture through the medium of television has helped it to attract large of tourists and hence develop tourism industry. Many countries have even developed movie maps to promote their regions which can be viewed on Internet sites by the tourists (Beeton, 2005, p.7). The tourism industries have classified and categorized the tourists in accordance with their needs and demands. Those tourists who also desire a relaxing and luxury accommodation after getting familiar with the region’s culture and specialties fall in the category of ‘Plog’s Midcenter’ (Beeton, 2005, p.124). The marketing and advertising strategies that have been adopted by these regions for a better understanding of consumer behavior to improve their tourism business gives an idea of the ways adopted to develop cultural industries. Different viewers or more specifically the tourists have responded differently to the different television series or tourism films. This is the reason why some films or television series have gained more popularity compared to the others (Beeton, 2005, pp.25-26). Place marketing has become a very well known concept today and achieved remarkable success. Full credit for this goes to the creative class present in these regions. Florida may be cited as an example who achieved success on acceptance of such a strategy. But Florida has only stressed upon consumption as has neglected the notion of production which is also equally important for cultural development. Urbanization and cultural industries development is undoubtedly better if cultural policies implemented have linkages between consumption and production. Thus the place has failed to realize the ongoing urban changes since production of a culture is concerned with both the place as well as time of occurrence. The creative class here has also been misinterpreted (Pratt, 2008). To know the reasons behind the development of cultural industries one needs to get familiar with the cultural markets. The cultural markets consist of the arts market and the international markets for audiovisual. However there is a separate market for nonprofit arts. The origin of these cultural markets is within the society itself. The cultural markets depend on the nature of those products exhibiting the region’s culture as well as the consumer’s responses to it. The impact of globalization and the advanced technical knowhow is noticeable on these cultural markets (Baumol and Bowen, 1965). The cultural industries focusing on regional music and tourism have future prospects of becoming bigger. Moreover they are also looked upon as interrelated. Regional music has attracted tourists to a considerable extent. Regional bands have often become special attractions. The band REMS in the city of Athens can be cited as an example. Music has also been responsible for the ongoing changes in locality which has positively contributed towards tourism development. Governments have used music for promoting tourism business in their countries. Besides promoting tourism music has also enabled the countries to differentiate their culture from the others. Music hence has remained in the place marketing strategies of many countries. The examples include Australia, Missouri. Tourists have frequently come from far away to hear the classic music of Vienna. The same can be applied for Goa which has become famous for tango (Gibson and Connell, 2005, p.14). Another phenomenon positively influencing cultural industries has been sports. The emergence of globalization have given birth to transnational sports organizations. Sports have been absorbed in the country’s taste and culture and have also travelled across national boundaries in this era of globalization (Jarvie, 2006, p.87). Sports have contributed positively for maintaining the country’s identity and increasing its popularity. The countries have earned recognition as well as wealth due to sports (Jarvie, 2006, p.71). These have earned sports a place in cultural policies which in turn has significantly helped in development of cultural industries. Examples can be cited from the cultural policies of Denmark. Sports and body culture has been included in the cultural policies of the nation. Moreover they have gone for cultural decentralization. This has been done to ensure cultural products and activities can be evenly distributed among all the people residing in various areas. This has been for sports as well as literature and arts related products and activities. Thus the entire population has got an access to the nations’ culture during festivals and theaters. Such facilities have also been available for institutions such as libraries (Jarvie, 2006, p.230). With the emergence of globalization popular cultures of a particular region have emerged as mass culture. Previously it was confined to only families and friends and upto the neighbors. American arts may be cited as an example where creativity and the existing culture become open to others through desktop publishing. In due course of time these kinds of creativity and folk culture have flourished and became a source of revenue for the region (Jenkins, 2006, p.136). Cases and findings The ways by which different cities have used their creativity and cultural policies for development of cultural or creative industries can be better understood through consideration of case examples of different countries. Case Study of Edinburgh The cultural policies of Edinburgh have been such that the nation’s festivals and national events get absorbed in their cultural process. They have identified to be an important factor that that can attract large number of people to their city thus expanding their tourism business (Ali-Knight and Chambers, 2006, p.viii). Effective place marketing strategies have been applied in this respect. The countries have put in a lot of effort and brought forward their vibrant culture to everyone by organizing an annual festival program each year. In fact they have promoted and given much importance to almost all of their festivals. Separate strategies have been adopted for each of these festivals and events (Ali-Knight and Chambers, 2006, p.8). Their arrangement and organizations have been so good that they have witnessed large number of visitors for these festivals and events. The spectators have most often been from nearby cities but tourists from far off places have also been witnessed. These art festivals have become a matter of pride for the Edinburgh citizens (Ali-Knight and Chambers, 2006, p.142). Thus festivals and events have played a major role in establishing and developing cultural industries in Edinburgh. The cultural policies adopted here have not only led to development of cultural industries but also have significantly reduced cultural diversities existing between communities. Case Study of Florence Florence which is an Italian city deserves mentions under development of cultural industries in some cities. The city has large number of museums and they have pertained to the city’s cultural needs. The museums are also known to establish visual links with the rest of the city. The museums in this city have satisfied large number of people and have also attracted enormous number of visitors. This has significantly expanded the tourism business of the city and raised their income. These museums have also acquired active support from the government who has utilized these concrete structures as a medium of economic development. Such development of cultural industries and tourism has also given earnings to the hotels and restaurants. The feasibility studies performed in 1989 has revealed how the city of Florida has included these concrete museums in their structure of urbanization (Zukin, 1995, p.106). Case Study of Atlanta Mega events such as mega sporting events like Olympics have helped the country to earn a considerable amount of wealth. The Atlanta city has become quite richer by hosting the Olympic games of the year 1996. Although the country had to employ 40000 people as volunteers it could meet its costs substantially from the revenue received from local taxes as well as funds that were received from other international organizations. The city could also raise considerable sum of money from the huge sale of tickets as large number of spectators turned up for this mega event. Hosting of such a mega event also enhanced the cities respect and popularity. The Information and Communication technology infrastructures have also enjoyed the credit of winning the country such an esteemed right of hosting a mega event. This event was also responsible for the increased earnings of the other related sectors like hotels and eateries. Considered as an attraction for tourists as well as for media these events carry with them a global meaning with respect to the nation’s culture (Roche, 2000, pp.125-126). After the prosperity of Atlanta other cities too have looked forward of hosting such events since these events act as an important medium for developing cultural industries. Case Study of Sardinia Sardinia which is an Italian city has materialized its annual festival La Cavalcata Sarda to develop its cultural industries. This hundred year old festival is an attraction for international tourists. Different horse riders and other such groups also pay regular yearly visits to this festival. The festival has folkloric craze and was invented by the King of Italy about hundred years back. But this festival is now the major reason for development of a massive tourist industry in Sardinia. The city has also been able to sell many cultural products during the tourist season. The city has earned a higher and differentiated status for hosting such an annual festival. This has also enhanced the beauty of the city and made the local citizens feel proud about it. Thus folkloric culture has helped in development of cultural industries in these cities (Picard and Robinson, 2006, pp.21-22). Preservation of their ancient culture and festivals has hugely contributed towards development of cultural industries in Sardinia. Case Study of Britain The existence of monarchs and royal families in some cities has positively contributed towards their tourism industry. This has been in the case of Britain. Although such a cultural industry was not intentionally developed but the existence of royal families has paved way for royal visitors in the city. This has been during the existence of Princess Diana and even after her death. This has led to organizing of royal events which in due course of time has become tourist attractions. Their cultural festivals have been beneficial in terms of getting both domestic and international visitors (Long and Palmer, 2007, p.254). Conclusion The traditional cultures have been carefully preserved by many cities that have led to their success in developing cultural industries. They have put in efforts for arranging their festivals and mega events and have earned hugely from it. This is evident from the case examples who various cities that have flourished in the tourism industry. Music, literature and art have also signs of achieving higher growth in future. The advantage of such industries has been they have developed in little spaces. Entire reliance has been placed on local talents which in due course of time have also become tourist attractions. The human creativity and intelligence have always supported development and this has been the sole reason for economic growth of creative industries far beyond expectations. Thus the sense of creativity and the region’s cultural practices has played a major role in establishing cultural or creative industries References: 1. Ali-Knight, J. and Chambers, D. (eds) (2006). Case studies in festival and event marketing and cultural tourism. Eastbourne: Leisure Studies Association  2. Baumol, W. & Bowen, W. 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Long, P and N, Palmer (eds) (2007) Royal Tourism, Clevedon, Channel View  12. Picard, D. and Robinson, M. (2006). Festivals, tourism and social change: remaking worlds, Clevedon: Channel View 13. Pratt, AC. (2008). Creative cities: the cultural industries and the creative class, LSE Research Online, http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/20704/1/Creative_cities_(LSERO_pre-print).pdf (Accessed on January 5 2012) 14. Roche, M. (2000) Mega-Events and Modernity: Olympics and Expos in the Growth of Global Culture, London. Routledge.  15. Zukin, S. (1995) The cultures of cities, Cambridge : Blackwell Read More