Cultural Industries: blog task

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) What does the term 'Cultural Industries' actually refer to?

The term ‘cultural industry’ refers to the creation, production, and

distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature.

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

They are often focused on intellectual property, the cultural industries are knowledge-based and require a large number of people in their production, therefore as an industry it will create employment and wealth.

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

This is because the cultural industry companies need to continuously compete with each other to secure audience members.

4) Look at page 2 of the factsheet. What are the problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries?

• Risky business

• Creativity versus commerce

• 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?

Cultural industries can be highly profitable in spite of high levels of risk, but it may be difficult to achieve high levels of profit for independent or individual companies.

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?

I think it should be both as people have art as their job and they need it to make a living out of.

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

They have other little companies that they work with to gain profit and minimise risk.

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?

Yes i think they should be rewarded better as they have worked very hard for everyone to watch their art piece. They spent much time preparing and getting it all done, therefor they deserve to be rewarded even more.

9) Listen and read the transcript to the opening 9 minutes of the Freakonomics podcast - No Hollywood Ending for the Visual-Effects Industry. Why has the visual effects industry suffered despite the huge budgets for most Hollywood movies?

Financial and political reasons are why the visual effects industry is suffering.

10) What is commodification? 

The action or process of treating something like a mere commodity.

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 disagree, as there are plenty of books about diversity and the wider society however they may simply have failed to get the recognition they deserve.


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.

cultural industries have increasingly become globalised (as a result of digital media, new technologies and interconnectivity). As such, there is a greater exchange of cultural goods and services across countries and different cultures.