• Describe, compare and critically reflect on relevant sociological and socio-economic theories of creative industries
• Compare and evaluate explanations of creative processes relevant to creative industries, derived from different theoretical perspectives
• Account for the organizational structure and labour dynamics of selected creative industries
• Apply in a critical and analytical manner these theories to empirical examples (case studies)

The course provides a solid introductory understanding of creative work in the creative industries. It covers a range of topics such as: the definition, relevance and characteristics of creative industries; the digital and algorithmic transformations in media industries; the impact of digital technologies on the traditional value chains in the industry; management of creative business processes; socio-economic organization of creative industries; management of creative people and creative values; pricing and value creation; the platform economy; the rise of new media entrepreneurship such as fashion and food blogging as well as digitally-enabled modes of creative financing such as crowdfunding. In the wake of the pandemic, the course will look at new models of alternative economies and resilience in the sector, as well as at newly emerging technology-led developments in Ai-generated art, cryptoart and NFT-based (non-fungible tokens) artistic assets.

Despite being hard hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, creative industries are projected to be a key driver of economic growth, themselves growing faster than the wider economy (Deloitte, 2021). Creative industries refer to a group of industries with a high level of artistic and innovative input, including cinema, publishing, television, music, design, fashion, dance, theatre and art. Permeated by radical uncertainty of both demand and creative output, predicated on the efforts of creative people, such as artists and designers, who are famous for being eccentric, individualistic and deeply invested in their creative work, and consisting usually of ephemeral project work involving hundreds of people on contingent contracts, creative industries indeed represent a distinct challenge to managers. The course will offer students tools for the analysis, evaluation and understating of the organizational challenges in creative industries (how is the messy business of making creative products managed?) as well as their work dynamics (how is it like to work in these industries?). Students will be taken through central readings and key concepts in the contemporary creative industries literature which will place them on firm scientific ground to understand, analyze and interpret the complex and ambivalent realities of the creative sector.

In addition to standard readings on creative processes in Europe and the United Sates special attention will be paid to Danish and Scandinavian variations of different creative industries and their functioning vis-à-vis local/regional/global business and cultural policies. The booming creative industry sector in Africa will also be in focus extending the students’ understanding of the global scope of these industries.  

Nordic Nine considerations

The course enables the acquisition, cultivation and nurturing of the following NNs:

1. NN1: Given it specific industrial focus, the course enables the students to get deep business knolwedge of the creative industries, knowledge that is situated in a broder  context, including the societal, cultural and economic contexts of Europe and Africa

2. NN6: The sociological and communicaiton studies focus of the course enables the studnets to become critical when thinbking. The centrality of case-based group work enhances the values of being constructive when collaborating.

Pierre Bourdieu (1998) The Rules of Art. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

Pierre Bourdieu, “The production of belief: contribution to an economy of symbolic goods.” In R. Collins et al. (eds.) Media, Culture & Society: A Critical Reader, 1986.