The cultural industries sector: its definition and character from secondary sources on employment and trade, Britain 1984-91

Cultural industries are broadly defined for the purposes of this paper as music, film, radio and television, publishing and advertising. The sectoral approach adopted includes not only the artists, but also the skilled technicians and support infrastructure (material and organizational) necessary to reproduce these cultural endeavours. The aim of this paper is to provide the ground work for more intensive studies of the cultural industries sector. It takes as its major task the development of a practical definition of the cultural industry sector for use with existing secondary data on employment and trade. It shows changes in the size, composition and where possible distribution, in Britain in the period 1984-91. The paper suggests that significant restructuring that has taken place in the location and form of the cultural industries sector. Moreover, potential interdependencies may exist between cultural industries sector and some manufacturing industries; policy makers both in the arts, and in industry, may need to acknowledge these.