The Cultural Industries Lecture Notes

Introduction to "The Cultural Industries" by David Hesmondhalgh

• First Published: 2002
• Latest Edition: Fourth edition released in 2019
• Overview: Explores the production and circulation of media texts, focusing on creative and cultural industries within economic and social contexts.

Key Concepts and Terms

Symbolic Creativity

• Involves producing media texts and manipulating symbols for entertainment, information, and enlightenment.
• Examples include television, film, theatre, and music.

Symbol Creators

• Individuals who create media content.
• Disparity noted between highly-rewarded superstars and the majority of cultural producers.
• Many creators accept poor working conditions to be involved in high-profile creative projects.

Commodification

• Transformation of objects and ideas into commodities for buying, selling, and exchange.
• A long-term process with different forms and stages:
  • Material Object Commodification: Books (15th century)
  • Information Commodification: Copyright law development (18th century)
  • Access Commodification: Electronic databases (late 20th century)
• Hesmondhalgh cautioned against negative effects of commodification, highlighting unrecognized cultural labor.

Globalisation

• Refers to the global movement of goods and services.
• Cultural industries rely on cross-border production and distribution to reach new markets.

Conglomerates

• Concentration of multiple companies under one corporate group.
• Parent companies own smaller subsidiaries but operate them separately.
• Described as "corporate convergence" by Henry Jenkins.

Vertical Integration

• Occurs when a single company owns the majority of the production chain for a media text.

Horizontal Integration

• Involves acquiring competing companies within the same sector.

Artificial Scarcity

• Media texts are costly to create but inexpensive to reproduce.
• Companies control access to media products to maintain value.
• Techniques include copyright law and distribution control.

Formatting

• Strategies to reduce risk in media text production:
  • Genre: Adhering to popular genres.
  • Star Power: Employing high-profile artists.
  • Serialization: Developing series or sequels.
• Formatting improves chances of market success.

Conclusion

• Hesmondhalgh's work highlights complexities of cultural industries and the dichotomy between cultural production's economic and creative aspects.