Cultural Industries

Cultural Industries


1) What does the term 'Cultural Industries' actually refer to?
 The term cultural industries refers to the creation, production and distribution of the media. Some examples of the cultural industries are film, television and music. They are knowledge based and require a lot of people in their production, therefore they do produce a lot of wealth and economic growth, as well as allowing artists to express themselves.

2) What does Hesmondhalgh identify regarding the societies in which the cultural industries are highly profitable?


- Broadcasting: radio, television (cable, digital and satellite)

- Film industries: including the dissemination of film on video/DVD/ television

- Music industries: recording, publishing and live performance

- Print and electronic publishing: books, online databases,information services, magazines and newspapers

- Video and computer games: or digital games as some commentators refer to them

- Advertising, marketing and public relations: greater functional element than other cultural industries; intended to sell and promote other texts; centred on the creation of texts and require work of symbol creators

- Web design: high functionality dynamic + strong aesthetic element

3) Why do some media products offer ideologies that challenge capitalism or inequalities in society?

Cultural industry companies need to continuously compete with each other to bring in new customers to their media products so they do that so they can appeal to a larger demographic and would like to appear as if they are on the sided of the audience so the audience feel like they can relate to the piece of media they are watching and feel more involved and potentially feel more enjoyment from watching it.4) Look at page 2 of the factsheet. What are the problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries?

Problems:

- Risky business

- Creativity versus commercial

- High production costs and low reproduction costs


- Semi-public goods; the need to create scarcity

5) Why are so many cultural industries a 'risky business' for the companies involved?




6) What is your opinion on the creativity v commerce debate? Should the media be all about profit or are media products a form of artistic expression that play an important role in society?

In a perfect world media production would simply be about the creativity and artistry, however now that there is the intensive of money in this business there are many more people working in the industry. People need the money which comes alongside the films to put more money into future films and to pay the staff. If a film is free and does not produce any money it would not give the artists enough to survive.

7) How do cultural industry companies minimise their risks and maximise their profits? (Clue: your work on Industries - Ownership and control will help here) 


Horizontal integration: buying up companies in the same sector to reduce the competition for audience and audience time.

Vertical integration: buying up companies involved in different stages of the process of production and circulation. Companies might by ‘downstream’ such as when a company involved in making films buys a DVD distributor.

Internationalism: buying and partnering other companies abroad allows companies to sell massive amounts of extra copies of a text they have already produced at low cost.

Multi sector and multimedia integration: buying into other related areas of cultural industry production to ensure cross-promotion.

Attempt to co-opt critics, DJ's and others who publicise a text by socialising/ sending gifts/

8) Do you agree that the way the cultural industries operate reflects the inequalities and injustices of wider society? Should the content creators, the creative minds behind media products, be better rewarded for their work?

I believe that it's true that the way cultural industries operate reflects the inequalities and injustices of the wider society. It is clearly shown as the people who work the hardest in the production, such as the Producers and the people in post media production are earning more the 10 times less then the actors who use their Star value to their advantage as they know that their face or name would attract customers to the film, which means that there is a lower budget to pay the people who are doing a lot of the work. The people in post production, the directors and producers work just as hard or even harder then the actors. 

9) Why has the visual effects industry suffered despite the huge budgets for most Hollywood movies?

The visual effects industry has suffered despite the huge budgets for most Hollywood movies as actors consume a high proportion of the budget, as they are recognised and can use their star value, which only the biggest stars have, where as the visual effects industry people can easily be replaced as there are many people in that industry who are looking for work and would jump at the opportunity to work in a large Bollywood movie with large stars. In effect the visual effects industry are expendable.

10) What is commodification? 

Commodification is the transformation of goods, services, ideas and people into commodities, or objects of trade.

11) Do you agree with the argument that while there are a huge number of media texts created, they fail to reflect the diversity of people or opinion in wider society?

I believe that majority of texts fail to represent and reflect the diversity of people in wider society, as majority of the audience is likely to have one fixed opinion and there may be two reasons for this. One being that since majority of people have this idea the producer of this piece of media may have this idea and believe that this is right or that it would simply be easier for them to put what most people agree on, so that their film for example will have good reviews, rather then if they put the ideas of the minority, they may leave positive reviews, however would simply be overpowered by the larger population believing in the opposite.
12) How does Hesmondhalgh suggest the cultural industries have changed? Identify the three most significant developments and explain why you think they are the most important.

CHANGES:

- Some are actually vast global businesses.

- Ownership and organisation of cultural industries is now much broader - the largest cultural companies now operate across a range of cultural industries (for example, TV, publishing ad film).

-Digitisation, the internet and mobile phones have multiplied the ways audience can gain access to cultural content. This has made small scale production much easier for millions of people .

-Powerful IT and technology companies now work with cultural industries to understand and produce cultural production & consumption. These companies (e.g. Apple, Microsoft, Google,Amazon) are now as powerful and influential in cultural industries.

-Cultural products can now be shared across national borders. This increased the adaptation, reinvention and hybrid of genres and products. It also enables cultures to reaffirm their values, reducing the cultural influence of the USA.

-As cultural industries understand the growing role and influence of the audience there is greater emphasis on marketing and research. Cultural industries actively seek to find and address the niche audiences.

-Traditions of public ownership and regulation have been dismantled

-Huge increase in the amount companies spend on advertising which has helped to fuel the growth of the cultural industries.