14)The Cultural Industries

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

The term refers to the production/distribution of  cultural/artistic products such as film and music.

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

They're all competing for access to the same things which are limited making it a highly competitive industry. They compete for: 

• A limited pool of disposable consumer income
• A limited pool of advertising revenue
• A limited amount of consumption time
• Skilled creative and technical labour

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

Media producers need to try and be different to their competitors and to do this they will sometimes challenge and go against social norms to shock the audience or bring in a new audience.

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?

There is never a guarantee that a product will be successful as every media product must be somewhat different to others so even though there’s a template to minimise risk in some situations, it’s still a big risk.

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 believe that media should be about art and be used to express people’s feelings about society. However, media products can be very expensive to produce. This means that there still has to be some way for them to make money so i understand why producers look to make media products that appeal to the masses and follow social norms.

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

Companies do this through vertical and horizontal integration. Horizontal integration is when one company buys other companies to reduce competition and therefore reduce risk and Vertical integration is when the company owns the stages of production which helps maximise profits by reducing production costs.

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 the way the cultural industries operate do reflect the issues of wider society as in the cultural industries we’ve seen multiple times where a female actress is paid less than a male actor, and this is despite her being a more popular/more professional actor. This reflects how in life more qualified women are being paid less than less qualified men just because of their gender. I also believe that the creators of media products deserve more as their work is undervalued despite the hard work put into their ideas. However, i do see why the investors are paid more as they’re the ones taking on the risk of funding these media projects and if the project failed they would also face a bigger loss so it makes sense for them to make a bigger profit when a product succeeds.  

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?

The visual effects industry has struggled/suffered due to increase in competition, outsourcing, costs and the unfair sharing of profits from media products which means they get a much smaller cut.

10) What is commodification? 

When a good is turned into something that can be sold

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 somewhat agree, i believe media producers are so focused on making a profit that they’re too afraid to diversify and this leads to less voices being heard while simultaneously decreasing confidence in others and making them less likely to create their own different products in fear of not succeeding like the rest of the media. However, some independent producers do manage to provide different ideas but this is quite rare as these products don’t usually generate large profits which deters others from trying. 

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.

Digitalisation- Media products can now be accessed and produced from our phones which means that more people can create media products which has increased diversity 

Cultural Industries becoming an oligopoly- The ownership of the media is now highly concentrated which means that a few companies now control most of what we consume. This could be very dangerous if these companies decide to collude as they could cause major price increases and less innovation as they no longer need to compete with each other. 

Globalisation - Media is now accessible all over the world which means products now have a much larger potential audience which could increase the likeliness of the product succeeding.