Importance of Cultural Industries in Contemporary Society - Essay Example

Introduction Cultural industries have gained a lot of importance in contemporary society. The industry hasgrown over a long period of time beginning with government regulations in the eighteenth and nineteenth century until the 1980s when governments led by the UK and USA began marketisation of the culture or what is often regarded as creative industries to emphasize its importance. The Telecommunications and Broadcasting were important tools of the state than newspapers hence the tight regulation policies against them. According to Hesmondhalgh, Telecommunication was considered public utility while broadcasting was considered a limited national resource and very powerful hence the need for control (129). The General Post office already existed in the UK and the AT & T in America to regulate this industry. However, the economic crisis of 1980s and 1980s changed the policy environment. Cultural policy developed from cultural studies and is one of the most contradictory policies, practices and techniques that govern the complex contemporary society. It is derived from culture, value and creative industries concepts but since defining these concepts is difficult as they have various meanings, so is the problem of defining cultural policy. Whatever the definition, it is clear that forms of policy directly impact on forms of culture and cultural identity within a particular space, be it international, national, regional or urban. O’Brien defines cultural policy as the area of public policy-making that governs activities related to the arts and culture whereas culture refers to artefacts and activities associated with a given community’s way of life (2). This essay will discuss what is meant by cultural policy and what it entails. First, a background to the policy will be given. Secondly, the changes that have taken place will be discussed as well as their impact on society and economy. Thirdly, creative industries will be discussed to give an insight as to what cultural policy deals with. I will conclude by giving a brief summary of what cultural policy is and what it entails. Background According to Hesmondhalgh cultural policy was initially formulated as “defence of art against commercialization, industrialization and commodification” (159). The policy ground then shifted due to neo-liberal ideology and information society prevalent in the twentieth century. The commercial culture industry was grouped together with other arts-based activities and renamed ‘the creative industries’ setting ground for contradictions and need for cultural policy. Cultural policy achieved its meaning by the introduction of the concept of cultural industries at the Greater London Council from 1983. Before then, cultural policy was not well developed. The concept was coined by thinkers who were against elitist and idealist notion of art and those who wanted arts subsidy to include new groups. For Hesmondhalgh and Pratt, “commercialisation of cultural production began in the nineteenth century in those societies which had made the transition from feudalism to capitalism” (3). It then intensified in the twentieth century especially in areas of intellectual property. By 2000s, there were efforts towards digitization and convergence especially wit growth of internet and World Wide Web. Although the GLC were abolished by government, the local and urban policy makers started using culture for urban regeneration hence a local cultural policy based on creative industries. The idea was fuelled by the need to include all areas of public policy including culture and media. The rise of cultural industries was connected to the rise of mass culture. There were growing complaints about high cultural forms which were considered elitist in nature and the use inclusion of cultural industries in cultural policy was seen as a good investment as it promoted ordinary culture which was viewed as non-elitist. It was an era of long downturn which affected cultural policy in numerous ways. It gave rise to the idea of neo-liberalism thus breaking down long-standing forms of cultural hierarchies and increased emphasis on entrepreneurialism in private and public sector. These urban strategies combined business, artistic and organization skills with activities that made a difference in the lives of communities’ thus efficient management (Chong 7). In Western European cultural policy, neo-liberalism led to democratisation, inclusion and greater access, in the form of projects intended to make art available to the ‘the people’ (McGuigan 38-9). There was also a tendency towards exclusivity as states subsidized certain forms of high culture. Although twentieth century was seen as an era of deregulation, through increased commodification of art (market exchanges of art work), some viewed it as an era of re-regulation as the legislations and regulations were not removed by the changes. Instead, new legislations and regulations that favoured interests of large, private corporations and their shareholders were introduced (Hesmondhalgh 127). New regulatory bodies were set up in 1980s and 1990s with an aim of deregulating; for example, the Broadcasting Complaints commission 0f 1982. Restraints were also lifted on business activities so they could pursue profit easily at the expense of other considerations while production and exchange of cultural goods and services for profit. This was to achieve efficiency and fairness in production and consumption of texts (Towse 156-158). Due to deregulation and liberalization in 1980s and 1990s, cultural industries grew rapidly. The growth of cultural industries was partly due to growth in information and knowledge technology which transformed economy from manufacturing to service industries. There was also increased research and development and science and Technology. Cultural industries, being based on information fitted into the growing knowledge economy. There was turn to increased policing of intellectual property which allowed businesses to make more money through copyrights. The period also witnessed intense innovation and internationalization with the formation of regulatory bodies such as the European Union, world Trade Organisation, and NAFTA. The intellectual property was to be under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of WTO. However, according to O’Brien (129) this only served to benefit corporate interests as the expense of artists since corporations were regarded as individuals. At the international level, UNESCO was involved in addressing cultural issues such as the inequalities in cultural resources between the North and South. At the local level, the US is credited with developing developing cultural policy in the 1960s. Works Cited Belfiore, E. and Bennett, O. The social impact of the arts London: Palgrave, 2010. Chong, D. Arts Management . 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2010 Hesmondhalgh D. The Cultural Industries. 3rd Edition. London: Sage, 2012. Hesmondhalgh, D and Pratt, AC. Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 11. 1(2005): 1-14 Lewis, J. and Miller T. Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A reader. London: Blackwell, 2002. McGuigan, J. Rethinking Cultural Policy. Oxford: OUP, 2004. McGuigan, J. The Cultural Public Sphere. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 8.4(2005): 427-443. O’Brien, D. Cultural Policy. London: Routledge, 2013. Throsby, D. The economics of cultural policy Cambridge: CUP, 2010 Towse, R. 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