Culture, Creativity and Economy
Collaborative Practices, Value Creation and Spaces of Creativity
(Hardcover 2022 : Paperback 2023)
Editors: Brian J. Hracs, Taylor Brydges, Tina Haisch, Atle Hauge, Johan Jansson & Jenny Sjöholm
This book nuances our understanding of the contemporary creative economy by engaging with a set of three key tensions which emerged over the course of eight European Colloquiums on Culture, Creativity and Economy (CCE): 1) The tension between individual and collaborative creative practices, 2) The tension between tradition and innovation, and 3) The tension between isolated and interconnected spaces of creativity.
Rather than focusing on specific processes, such as production, industries or locations, the tensions acknowledge and engage with the messy and restless nature of the creative economy. Individual chapters offer insights into poorly understood practices, locations and contexts such as co-working spaces in Berlin and rural Spain, creative businesses in Leicester and the role and importance of cultural intermediaries in creative economies within Africa. Others examine the nature of trans-local cultural flows, the evolving ‘field’ of fashion, and the implications of social media and crowdfunding platforms.
For more information:
Routledge Series Website
Reviews
Fiona J.Drummond (2022) Creative Industries Journal (Link)
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Exploring tensions in the creative economy
Brian J. Hracs, Taylor Brydges, Tina Haisch, Atle Hauge, Johan Jansson and Jenny Sjöholm
2. The field of fashion in the digital age: Insights from global and ‘not-so-global’ fashion centres
Taylor Brydges, Marianna d’Ovidio, Mariangela Lavanga, Deborah Leslie, Norma M. Rantisi
3. Creative Splintering and Structural Change in Leicester, UK
Rachel Granger
4. Crowdfunding and co-creation of value: the case of the fashion brand Linjer
Anders Rykkja and Atle Hauge
5. Intermediaries, Work and Creativity in Creative and Innovative Sectors- The Case of Berlin
Janet Merkel and Lech Suwala
6. Technology as a source for creativity: Insights from the Swiss fashion industry
Judith Nyfeler
7. Assessing values of cultural heritage and museums: A holistic framework
Vasilis Avdikos and Mina Dragouni
8. Spatial processes of translation: how coworking diffused from urban to rural environments. The case of Cowocat in Catalonia, Spain
Ignasi Capdevila
9. Cultural Intermediaries Revisited: Lessons from Cape Town, Lagos and Nairobi
Roberta Comunian, Lauren England and Brian J. Hracs
10. Curated by pioneers, spaces and resistance: The development of electronic dance music in Stockholm
Johan Jansson and Anna Gavanas
Developing Creative Economies in Africa: Spaces and Working Practices
(Hardcover 2022)
Editors: Brian J. Hracs, Roberta Comunian & Lauren England
Bringing together the experience of academics and practitioners, this book discusses creative economies in Africa, focusing on changing dynamics related to working, co-working and clustering. The contributors in this volume examine how strategies and opportunities such as co-working spaces, clustering and hubs facilitate the emergence of creative industries in a range of African countries including Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa. They also consider the importance of creative intermediaries in providing opportunities and platforms for the development of creative economies in Africa. The chapters present a range of case studies and practices that engage with how creative and cultural producers embrace some of the limits and challenges of their local context to creatively deliver opportunities for economic as well as social and cultural development in their cities and regions.
For more information:
Routledge Series Website
Table of Contents
Introduction
- Brian J. Hracs, Roberta Comunian, Lauren England
Part I: Creative Work: Networks, Careers and Finance
Promoting the Film Industry in Kenya: State Support versus Entrepreneurial Innovation
- Robin Steedman
Making a Living through and for Visual Artists in East Africa
- Andrew Burton, Lilian Nabulime, Robert Newbery, Paul Richter, Anthony Tibaingana, Andrea Wilkinson
Financing Creative Industries in Kenya: Challenges, Opportunities and the Case of HEVA
- Wakiuru Njunga, Roberta Comunian, Brian J. Hracs and Denderah Rickmers
Creative Coworking in Nigeria: Emerging Trends, Opportunities and Future Scenarios
- Damilola Adegoke and Roberta Comunian
Part II: Coworking: Policy and Development
Coworking, Gender and Development: The Case of Tribe XX Lab
- Lauren England, Emalohi Iruobe and Roberta Comunian
Ahead of Policy? Creative Hubs in East African Cities
- Ayeta Anne Wangusa, Roberta Comunian and Brian J. Hracs
Part III: Clustering and Creative spaces
Rural Cultural and Creative Industry Clustering: The Sarah Baartman District, South Africa
- Fiona Drummond and Jen Snowball
The Cultural Centre of GugaS’thebe as a Transformative Creative Space
- Irma Booyens, Ndipiwe Mkuzo and Marco Brent Morgan
Conclusions
- Lauren England, Brian J. Hracs and Roberta Comunian
Higher Education and Policy for Creative Economies in Africa
(Hardcover 2021 ; Paperback 2022)
Editors: Roberta Comunian, Brian J. Hracs & Lauren England
The book reflects on the role of the creative economies in a range of African countries (namely Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda). Chapters explore how creative economies emerge and can be supported in African countries. The contributors focus on two key dimensions: the role of higher education and the role of policy. Firstly, they consider the role of higher education and alternative forms of specialised education to reflect on how the creative aspirations of students (and future creative workers) of these countries are met and developed. Secondly, they explore the role of policy in supporting the agendas of the creative economy, taking also into consideration the potential historical dimension of policy interventions and the impact of a lack of policy frameworks. The book concludes by reflecting on how these two pillars of creative economy development, which are usually taken for granted in studying creative economies in the global north, need to be understood with their own specificity in the context of our selected case studies in Africa.
For more information:
Routledge Series Website
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
- Roberta Comunian, Brian J. Hracs and Lauren England
Part 1: Higher education and creative economies development
2. Creative higher education in Nigeria and the case of University of Lagos
- Vincent Obia, Lauren England, Roberta Comunian and Duro Oni
3. Collaborations for creative arts higher education delivery in Ghana: A case of the University of Cape Coast
- Madinatu Bello
4. Fashion designers and education in Nairobi: Challenges and opportunities
- Lauren England, Ogake Mosomi, Roberta Comunian and Brian J. Hracs
5. Uganda film and television: Creative skills development and skills gap for the sector
- Roberta Comunian and Gershom Kimera
Part 2: The role of policy for creative economies
6. Importance of arts and culture in community development in Nigeria: The place of the Councils for Arts and Culture
- Duro Oni, Cornelius Onyekaba and Shaibu Husseini
7. The historical evolution of the cultural and creative economy in Mahikeng, South Africa: Implications for contemporary policy
- James Drummond and Fiona Drummond
8. Finance for creative and cultural industries in Africa
- Yemisi Mokuolu, Victoria Kay and Claudia María Velilla-Zuloaga
9. Developing the handicraft sector in South Africa: The role of policy
- Oluwayemisi Adebola Abisuga-Oyekunle , Lauren England and Roberta Comunian
10. Conclusions
- Roberta Comunian, Brian J. Hracs and Lauren England
Reviews
"Higher Education and Policy for Creative Economies in Africa is an interesting and timeous book, doing much to expand the creative economy literature and understanding of the sector in a global south context. Communian, Hracs and England have succeeded in drawing together various case studies, including film, design, craft and cultural events, from a range of African countries, into a coherent volume. The challenges, as well as the huge potential, of the creative economy in Africa is discussed by African researchers and practitioners themselves, using a range of both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The result is a richly detailed, realistic view of creative economies in Africa that will be of use to researchers, students, practitioners and policy-makers." -- Jen Snowball, Professor of Economics, Rhodes University and Chief Research Strategist, South African Cultural Observatory
"In recent years have we have seen a growing interest in Africa’s creative economies, but their value, ecology and nature have not been adequately credited or documented. This book provides insights into important aspects of the creative economies in various African countries, exploring the ecology of these activities from how they emerge and are passed on through generations, to the training, systems and policies that support them. By including the perspectives of academics, practitioners and experts, the book has a wide audience and has captured data that should influence policy on creative economies and inform higher education stakeholders." -- Lilac Adhiambo Osanjo, Director, School of the Arts and Design, University of Nairobi, Kenya
"This edited volume by Comunian, Hracs and England is a highly relevant and timely intervention given the increasing attention to the interactions between creative economies in Africa and socioeconomic development processes and outcomes. It is a rich and dynamic contribution that showcases the value of the co-production of knowledge between practitioners and academic researchers across disciplines. The analyses offered engage critically with concepts and theories by interrogating new data as well as historical material to reveal the significant and complex roles of higher education and national policy in various creative economies. The attention to the key economies of Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa provides a welcome balance between breadth and depth in the volume’s coverage across time periods. The editors and authors have provided a book that will be a very valuable resource to academic, policy and practice communities." -- Eka Ikpe, Senior Lecturer, Development Economics in Africa and Deputy Director, African Leadership Centre, King's College London
"It is always an honour to represent the arts and culture sector of Lagos State. Blessed with unbridled energy and creativity the creative sector remains at the heart of the identity of the diverse communities of this continent. The development of dynamic institutions is key to ensuring sustainability in this sector but is no mean feat in these fast changing times, when we are increasingly global and yet more locally focused than we have been for generations. How best can we support the weaving together of traditions, skills and ancient nuances with the ability of the digital age to leap frog conventional systems? This is what this erstwhile study helps us better understand. My congratulations and deepest respect go to all the contributors and editors of this passionate, thorough and timely study." -- Polly Alakija, Artist and Chairman Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture
The Production and Consumption of Music in the Digital Age
Routledge Studies in Human Geography (HardCover 2016; Paperback 2017)
Editors: Brian J. Hracs, Michael Seman & Tarek E. Virani
This volume examines the evolving conditions and spatial dynamics of music production, promotion, distribution, and consumption in the contemporary digital age. It explores how new technologies, organizational forms, market dynamics and consumer behavior are restructuring the music industry at multiple scales (from global firms to local entrepreneurs) and in multiple spatial settings (from established clusters and burgeoning scenes to online environments), and charts the interconnected sonic ecosystem of cities, scenes, venues, festivals, record shops, and online communities that has emerged in the wake of the "MP3 Crisis."
For more information:
The Routledge Series Website
Twitter @musicdigitalage
Reviews
Sean Albiez (2016) Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (PDF)
Toby Bennett (2017) Popular Music and Society (PDF)
David J. Keeling (2017) Growth and Change (PDF)
Jack Webster (2016) Information, Communication & Society (PDF)
Giuseppe Zevolli (2017) Popular Music (PDF)
Chapter Abstracts
Chapter 1: Introduction
Brian J. Hracs, Michael Seman and Tarek E. Virani
Chapter 2: Laptops, Pro Tools, and File Transfer Protocols: On the Extensification and Intensification of Recording Work in the Digital Age
Allan Watson
This chapter is concerned with the extensification and intensification of recording work. Specifically, the chapter considers how new recording and communication technologies - in particular laptop Digital Audio Workstations and networking and communication technologies - are exacerbating the spatial and temporal overflowing of work practices beyond the bounds of formal recording sessions in studios and into other spaces and times. The chapter demonstrates how new technologies are resulting in an increased overflowing of work into the home environment, and an increased client expectation of being ‘on call’ 24/7, with high levels of work intensity resulting from bulimic patterns of work.
Chapter 3: Disturbing Production: The Effects of Digital Music Production on Music Studios
David Arditi
The cheap cost of digital audio workstations makes every laptop and basement a potential site for professional quality studios. Digital technology makes professional recording available to everyone; therefore, there is no longer a need for major labels to run their own studios. Digital production disturbs the social relations of production in the studio in two ways. First, digital production altered and interrupted the Fordist model of musical production that the major record labels used in their in-house studios. Second, the new studio model relies on contracted studios that rely on exploited labor in the form of interns and unpaid apprentices.
Chapter 4: Working Harder and Working Smarter: The Survival Strategies of Contemporary Independent Musicians
Brian J. Hracs
Although digital technologies and restructuring in the music industry have furnished musicians with unprecedented levels of autonomy and are widely considered emancipatory, the working lives of contemporary independent musicians are fraught with risk and uncertainty. To date, however, little is known about the strategies musicians are developing to overcome the inefficiencies of the ‘Do It Yourself’ (D.I.Y.) model and mediate the risks associated with the hyper-competitive marketplace. Drawing on 65 interviews, this chapter explores the interrelated spatial, organizational and commercial strategies being used by independent musicians in Toronto, Canada.
Chapter 5: From Artist to Entrepreneur: The Working Lives of London-Based Rappers
Laura Speers
In the changing musical marketplace where regular live performances, sense of community, and CD sales are being replaced by digital purchases, piracy and a shift to merchandise, rappers are having to make sense of their changing role as artists. To be a professional rapper requires that you promote yourself, that you are resourceful, and that you network – all aspects of cultural entrepreneurship. The opportunities and challenges encountered by London-based rappers, mapped out in this chapter, are underpinned by three notable tensions: autonomy versus forced adaptation, economic viability versus underground values, and creative practice versus entrepreneurial activity.
Chapter 6: Hip-hop Tunity: Challenges and Opportunities for indie Hip-Hop Artists in the Dutch Music Industry
Joni R. Haijen
The digital revolution has transformed the landscape of the music industry, generating new business models, requiring musicians to diversify their skill sets. However, relatively little is known about how independent musicians cope with these changes. This chapter provides an empirical analysis of the challenges and opportunities within a niche genre, the Dutch hip-hop scene. It is argued that, due to changes in the music industry, the field of hip-hop music is more accessible and the supply of aspiring rappers is rising. This creates a need to be more professional and creative in order to distinguish themselves from other indie artists.
Chapter 7: “Working at the Candy Factory”: The Limits of Nonmonetary Rewards in Record Industry Careers
Alexandre Frenette
Work in the record industry involves a peculiar combination of precariousness and passion. Based on interviews and participant observation data, I consider how balancing these two extremes can prove tenuous over time. While nonmonetary rewards count as payment, disenchantment is identified as a key reason for quitting or getting let go, and occurs for three key reasons: precariousness; a changing relationship to music; and aging out. I thereby provide a snapshot of record industry work conditions and show how the digital era has exacerbated these three pressures to exit. I conclude with thoughts on future research.
Chapter 8: The Resilience of a Local Music Scene in Dalston, London
Tarek E. Virani
It has been argued that the allure of local music scenes has been diminished in the digital age. This chapter challenges this notion. Based on research in Dalston, London, this chapter argues that this particular music scene has ensured its presence and influence as an important cultural node within the city of London through a process of resilience. This resilience has entailed a level of sophisticated dialogue between primarily a performance venue and organizations that have strong local and trans-local links. This has resulted in the venue being elevated to a ‘special’ status within the scene, extending its importance across London.
Chapter 9: Landscapes of Performance and Technological Change: Music Venues in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee
Ola Johansson, Margaret M. Gripshover and Thomas L. Bell
In order to explore how live music has been affected by technological change, we investigated performance venues in two U.S. metropolitan areas – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee. Despite the cities’ disparate economic bases and built environments, we found significant commonalities in the mix of music venues. Responses from venue owners/managers and a supplemental literature review indicate that technology has allowed an areal expansion of the marketing for, and attendance at, performances. Larger venues are better positioned to take advantage of these technological changes and a creeping corporatization of the live music industry is detectable.
Chapter 10: What’s the ‘Newport Effect?:’ Music Festivals, Touring, and Reputations in the Digital Age
Jonathan R. Wynn and Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas
Live performances are a considerable concern for the music industry, and a newfound importance for cities as they transition from production to entertainment-centers. This chapters examines how festivals affect the wider music map for touring musicians and disparate music scenes by analyzing the changing relationship between festivals, bands, and the places they perform. We match interview data with music industry professionals and quantitative data on touring to offer a new way to approach the cultural geography of music: cities and bands create a ‘geography of genre’ that serves as an opportunity structure for people in and around the music industry.
Chapter 11: Musicians and Temporary Spaces: The Case of Music Festivals in Sweden
Johan Jansson and Jimi Nilsson
Recent technological developments have altered the nature of where, when, and how music-related creativity, production, and distribution takes place. The aim of this chapter is to examine the changing role of music festivals for individual musicians working in the music industry. More specifically, we identify important spaces at influential Swedish music festivals and analyze how these spaces relate to each other and how the processes taking place within these spaces are extended beyond the actual event.
Chapter 12: Exploring the ‘360 Degree’ Blur: Digitization, Sonic Capital and the Strategic Orientations of Electronic indie Labels
Hans-Joachim Bürkner
Digitization in popular music markets has forced stakeholders to change their production strategies. Many are engaging in open-ended, trial and error activities in order to make up for the lack of income from physical recording sales. Exploring the case of electronic dance music (EDM) production in the city of Berlin, this chapter undertakes a critical revision of the very rough 360 degree thesis that is influencing recent debates on the restructuring of music markets. By introducing the concept of ‘sonic capital’ as a heuristic analytical tool, it identifies a more sophisticated, pathway-dependent logic of scene-based adaptations to the digital challenge.
Chapter 13: More than Just Bytes? Responses to Digitization in the Paris Cluster of World Music Production
Amanda Brandellero and Robert C. Kloosterman
Historically, Paris has positioned itself as an important cluster of world music production and consumption, offering a portal to other cultures and traditions. Based on in-depth interviews with key actors in the field, we explore how some actors within that cluster perceive digitization as helping to get access to larger markets, while others fear the erosion of the layered experience of culture that world music affords. Our analysis reveals three distinct art worlds within one localized production system, each with its own market orientation, and need for tailored strategies to address digitization.
Chapter 14: Emotional Landscapes and the Evolution of Vinyl Record Retail: A Case Study of Highland Park, Los Angeles
Tyler Sonnichsen
In order to cater to this increasingly niche market of music consumers, new vinyl retailers need to recreate and cater to consumers’ nostalgically and romantically driven ideals of place. In doing so, they forge new spaces that could reinvent classic perceptions of the record shop. I argue that emotional geographies have been an overlooked yet undeniably major influence on music collecting, particularly of vinyl records, both prior to and concurrent with the digital era. In this chapter, I present findings based on qualitative research conducted in such recently opened retailers in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Chapter 15: Music Rights: Towards a Material Geography of Musical Practices in the ‘Digital Age’
Andy C Pratt
This chapter argues for the need to attend to the situated nature of the practices that constitute music in the digital age. In so doing I break the binary divide of the digital and material and remake it as a hybrid. The structure of the chapter is as follows: I first introduce the idea of copyright and ownership in music. In the second and third parts I elaborate the issues through the exploration of ownership and trade. I focus on two types of “rights” in music: moral and mechanical and demonstrate how these are interwoven and embedded in space.
Chapter 16: Unpacking the ‘Digital Habitus’ of Music Fans in Santiago’s indie Music Scene
Arturo Arriagada
This chapter examines the practices and dispositions towards information and communication technologies (ICTs) of a group of music fans that produce websites about local and global music scenes. It is based on nine months of fieldwork (2011) in Santiago, using an ethnographic approach, following the everyday practices of the creators of eight music websites through which cultural flows are mediated, organized, and circulated. The chapter explores how music websites operate as spaces through which music fans objectify their dispositions towards ICTs, as well as representations of the scenes and their flows.
Chapter 17: The Evolution of Music Tastemakers in the Digital Age: The Rise of Algorithms and the Response of Journalists
Bastian Lange
Digital technologies are altering the relationship between listeners and tastemakers, often removing boundaries between the two. The overwhelming amount of music available online combined with digital technologies that allow listeners to assume new roles threatens the status of music journalists as pivotal rating entities. At the same time, the rise of digital music algorithms, which mine the histories and taste preferences of listeners, is creating a rating and curation system which also circumvents the role of music journalists. However, this chapter demonstrates that music journalists are still valued and highlights the emergence of a hybrid curation model in the marketplace.
Chapter 18: Leveraging Affect: Mobilizing Enthusiasm and the Co-Production of the Musical Economy
Andrew Leyshon, Nigel Thrift, Louise Crewe, Shaun French and Pete Webb
This chapter considers the promises and problems of fandom and enthusiasm within capitalism. Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative way of funding creative projects in the face of the more cautious investments of record companies following the MP3 crisis. Through crowdfunding artists seek to harness the affect and emotions of fans to access new sources of money. However, the process is not without its costs. These include the demands placed on its users, not least that of being able to navigate a system that requires considerable reserves of social, cultural and financial capital.