MIGRAIN: Hesmondhalgh - The Cultural Industries

 Alezey

Hesmondhalgh - The Cultural Industries

Go to our Media Factsheet archive and open Factsheet 168: David Hesmondhalgh’s ‘The Cultural Industries’. Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:


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

Refers to the creation, production, and distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature. Cultural industries include television and film production, publishing, music, as well as crafts and design.

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

Hesmondhalgh identifies that the societies in which the cultural industries are highly profitable tend to be societies that enable the conditions where large companies, and their political allies, generate money. These conditions include constant demand for new products, minimal regulation outside of general competition law, relative political and economic stability, and workforces that are willing to work hard.

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

Texts tend to offer ideologies which challenge capitalism or the inequalities of gender and racism in society. This happens because the cultural industry companies need to continuously compete with each other to secure audience members. As such, companies outdo each other to try and satisfy audience desires for exciting or provocative content. There are also longstanding social expectations about what art and entertainment should do, and challenging the various institutions of society is one of those expectations.

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

The problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries includes: Risking your business, creativity vs commence, high production costs and low reproduction costs and semi-public goods (the need to create scarcity).

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

Cultural industries are a risky business because audiences consume cultural commodities in volatile and unpredictable ways to show they are different from others. Risk is increased because symbol creators are given limited autonomy to make products original, which may fail. Companies also rely on other cultural industries for publicity and cannot control audience or critic reactions making profit uncertain.

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?

In my opinion, media should not be all about profit. The creativity vs commerce tension is important because it gives symbol makers some autonomy, allowing creative and original media products to be made. Media products are a form of artistic expression that play an important role in society, even though this tension adds uncertainty and difficulty for cultural businesses.

7) How do cultural industry companies minimise their risks and maximise their profits? 

Cultural industry companies minimise risk and maximise profit through concentration and integration. Horizontal integration reduces competition for audiences, while vertical integration gives companies control over production and circulation. Internationalism allows companies to sell more copies at low cost, and multisector and multimedia integration helps with cross-promotion. Companies also co-opt publicity through critics and influencers, meaning larger companies have more power and a greater chance of success.

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 that the way the cultural industries operate reflects inequalities and injustices in wider society. Power and profit are often concentrated in large companies, while content creators are given limited autonomy and are not always fairly rewarded. The creative minds behind media products play a key role in shaping culture and society, so they should be better rewarded for their work rather than most profit going to institutions and corporations.

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 (VFX) industry has suffered despite huge Hollywood budgets because most of the money doesn’t go to the VFX artists or companies. Studios spend big on actors, marketing, and production, while VFX work is often outsourced, underpaid, and done under tight deadlines. Companies usually have to bid fixed prices, so even if the work costs more or takes longer, they don’t earn extra. Work is also often moved overseas because of tax incentives, making jobs unstable. Even though VFX is essential for blockbusters, the artists creating it are undervalued and under-rewarded, which has caused the industry to struggle.

10) What is commodification? 

Commodification is when objects, services or cultural products are turned into commodities that are made not just for use, but for exchange and profit. Hesmondhalgh argues that this can cause problems because on the consumption side it promotes ownership and exclusion, leading to inequality. On the production side, commodification often means labour is under-recognised and under-rewarded, such as in the case of visual effects artists in the cultural industries.

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 agree that even though there are huge numbers of media texts, they don’t always reflect the diversity of people or opinions in society. Hesmondhalgh says there’s a difference between multiplicity (lots of voices) and diversity (different viewpoints). Many texts are still mainstream, and audiences are often kept to familiar producers, so real diversity is limited. More texts and ways to access them don’t automatically mean diversity.

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.

Hesmondhalgh suggests the cultural industries have changed in lots of ways, but the three most important are:

1. Globalisation – cultural products can now be shared across national borders, which increases adaptation, reinvention and hybridity and lets cultures reaffirm their values, reducing the influence of the USA.
2. Digitalisation, the internet and mobile phones – these have multiplied the ways audiences can access content and made small-scale production much easier for millions of people, letting more people represent themselves.
3. Growth of big companies and tech firms – the largest companies now operate across TV, film, publishing and work with Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, making them as powerful and influential as traditional companies, with more focus on marketing and research.

These are the most important because they show how the industries are now global, digital, and controlled by powerful companies, changing how content is made and shared.