Information on the Creative Industries and Cultural Industries
The 'creative industries; have been defined by the UK Government's Department for Culture,
Media and Sport (DCMS) as: 'Those industries which have their origin in individual creativity,
skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation
and exploitation of intellectual property.'
The term 'cultural industries' is also used by some agencies, though this term relates to a more
specific range of industries and can be regarded as a subset of the creative industries. The cultural
industries are defined by UNESCO as 'industries that combine the creation, production and commercialisation
of contents which are intangible and cultural in nature; these contents are typically protected by copyright
and they can take the form of a good or a service.'
There are thirteen sub-sectors under the term 'creative industries' and these are: advertising;
architecture; the art and antiques market; crafts; design; designer fashion; film and video;
interactive leisure software; music; the performing arts; publishing; software and computer games;
and television and radio.
According to DCMS research, the Creative Industries accounted for 8.2% of Gross Value Added (GVA) in
2001 in the UK and the sector grew by an average of 8% per annum between 1997 and 2001. Exports from
the UK by the creative industries contributed £11.4 billion to the balance of trade in 2001. This
equated to around 4.2% of all goods and services exported. Exports for the creative industries grew
at around 15%per annum over the period of 1997-2001. In June 2002, creative employment totalled 1.9
million jobs and there were around 122,000 companies in the Creative Industry sectors on the Inter-Departmental
Business Register (IDBR) in 2002.
According to the Financial Times, "a report from the (UK) Government's Strategy Unit has concluded that the
creative industries in London are now more important than financial services to the economy. Employment in
the creative industries (including fashion, software design, publishing, architecture and antique dealing)
has topped 525,000 and is still rising, compared to a mere 322,000 and falling in financial services."
Internationally, the creative industries are one of the fastest growing sectors in OECD economies, employing
on average 3-5% of the workforce according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The
global value of creative industries was expected to increase in the years from 2000 to 2005 from US$ 831 billion
to US$ 1.3 trillion, a compound annual growth of over 7%.
This astounding figure is achieved by creative businesses, most of which are small or medium sized enterprises
and in reality are very small or 'micro-enterprises', including individual practitioners. The British Council
points out that this scenario is typical internationally and works to support international co-operation since
creative businesses move more quickly to international markets than many other forms of enterprise, often using
the Internet.
The creative industries are the only sector which has been identified as a priority area by all of the countries
and regions of the UK. This is reflected by the number of agencies supporting the creative sector, such as CIDS
(Creative Industries Development Service), CIDA (Creative Industries Development Agency), Inspiral, and Creative Kernow.
The first of these to be established in the late 1990's was Merseyside ACME (Arts, Culture and Media Enterprises).
Copyright © David Parrish. 2005.
Extract from 'T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity'>>> more