Cultural Industries: Blog Tasks :)

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

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

Places of which the creative industries are highly profitable are usually where you will find a thriving society as the cultural industries add value to society and individuals 

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

Because the cultural industry companies need to continuously compete with one another in order to secure a loyal fanbase so they try to outdo each other in order to satisfy the audience's desires for something shocking or profane or rebellious 

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

Risky businesses, creativity vs commerce, high production costs and low reproduction costs, semi-public goods 

5) Why are so many cultural industries a 'risky business' for the companies involved?

Because audiences can be very unpredictable so the success of one media product cannot be guaranteed with new products- companies are unable to control the reactions of audiences so responses to media products are always risky 

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 they are equally important but creativity has superiority over commerce and this is because money will not be made if a media product is not creative. I believe media is more likely to attract attention if it focuses on the audience and its desires rather than focusing on the income that will come with the product 

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

Through the use of production, promotion and distribution processes to the best standard possible in order to please a larger audience and therefore gain more money 

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 agree because people with a large following automatically succeed with little effort but people who come up with original and creative ideas don't succeed as much so they should be rewarded better for their work because they have to work much harder than people who already have a large following for a fraction of what they make 

9) What is commodification? 

The transformation of objects and services into commodities 

10) 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 agree with this argument because although in recent media, diversity is trying to be implemented more, they are not accurately depicting the reality of certain cultures or backgrounds 

11) 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.

Risky Business: there is no guarantee that a creative product will succeed so the use of vertical integration and diversification must increase in order to reduce risk and maximise profit 

Commodification: is a problem on the consumption and production side because it means people in cultural industries are not always rewarded fairly 

Diversity in the Media: cultural industries do not always truly reflect the diversity of people and society