• In the present day, a lot of people aspire to be in a creative occupation however it is a struggle when you aren’t in a family or know people who can get you into it, no matter the creative ability you have, e.g cultural work in the complex professional era is that many more people seem to have wanted to work professionally in the cultural industries than have succeeded in do so. Few people make it, and surprisingly little attention has been paid in research to how people do so, and what stops others from getting on.
• David is currently a Professor of Media, music and culture at the University of Leeds.
• He has wrote books such as Understanding Media: Inside Celebrity (Maidenhead Open University Press, 2005), Media Production (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2006), Media and Society, 6th edition (New York: Bloomsbury, 2019) and many more.
• Hesmondhalgh analyses the relationship between media and work as well as the media industry.
• Applying/getting a job requires luck or a family member to be successful.
• David Hesmondalgh says that the creative/cultural industry is a risky business.
• Businesses are divided into three sectors such as production, distribution and consumption.
• The strategies that minimise the risks are strategies such as the ‘Horizontal integration’ which enables large-scale institutions to achieve scale base cost savings while also allowing them to maximise profits by positioning brands so they do not compete with one another. A second way to minimise the risks is the vertical integration, this is where production, distribution, marketing specialist subsidiaries and media conglomerates can control all aspects of their supply chain while also achieving significant cost saving efficiencies. The final strategy of minimising risk is the multi-sector integration, this is the buying of companies across the culture industry, allowing for further cross-promotion opportunities and the deployment of brands across media platforms.

David Hesmondalgh wrote a book called “The culture industries”

His work is about tracing the relationship between media work, workers, and the industry.

“VH:[00:17:10] I think a lot sadly does come down to luck and who you know. “

“MM: [00:34:02] So how do you see that? Looking back do you think that was, do you think basically you were lucky? The right person, in the right place, at the right time?

JL: [00:34:12] Yeah.  “

Many younger people believe that the creative industry is a lot different to how it really is

“LH [00:20:14] the minute that I went in I realized not everybody who works in creativity is a fun person. There are a lot more boring than you’d expect them to be. They’re not as fun.“

They are drawn to the ideas of fame and wealth and that it will be easy and fun, putting them in a vulnerable position when they realise that this is not the case and the industry requires you to get very lucky.

1. Cultural industries  – an industrialized culture, essentially produced for the sake of making profits
2. Production – The making of a piece of media
3. Distribution – How media products are delivered to audiences
4. Exhibition / Consumption – How a media product is viewed
5. Media concentration – The ownership of mass media by few individuals
6. Conglomerates – A company that owns numerous other companies involved in media
7. Globalisation (in terms of media ownership)
8. Cultural imperialism – A theory that states western nations dominate media around the world
9. Vertical Integration – When a media company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution e.g. 20th century fox owns studios; cinemas; TV channels
10. Horizontal Integration – A media company’s ownership of several businesses of the same value e.g. a magazine; radio station and TV channel
11. Mergers – When a media company acquires another company
12. Monopolies – A large company owning many shares of a media source
13. Gatekeepers – People who filter information for dissemination
14. Regulation – The process of disallowing certain things in the media through guidelines
15. Deregulation – Removing or loosening government restrictions on the ownership of media outlets
16. Free market – A market where the prices of services are self-regulated
17. Commodification  – The process whereby things are transformed into objects for sale in a capitalist economic system
18. Convergence  – blending together multiple forms of media
19. Diversity  – Differing ideas and forms of media 
20. Innovation  – The development of new media platforms, or new business models, or new ways of producing media etc.

David Hesmondhalgh states that the media industry is a “risky business” – However, there are many ways that companies minimise this risk.

For Example, many companies use vertical integration – where they acquire subsidiaries based in Production, Distribution AND Consumption. This allows them to control everything that happens with their product from how it is made, to how it is advertised and where it can be consumed.

Furthermore, many companies build up monopolies – which while illegal, have many workarounds that the companies use. For example, a company may only allow their films to be viewed in certain cinemas i.e. cineworld – except for one cinema in Thailand that allows for the company to deny the monopoly.

Book called the “culture industries”

His work is about tracing the relationship between media work, media workers and the media industry.

he says that young people can be seen to desire a career in the creative industry as it can be very influential and more popular.

its mainly down to pure luck as the media industry is such a high demand.

-His book is called the cultural industries, his work is about tracing the relationship with media work, media workers and the media industries.

-the study of creative work should include a wider set of questions including the way in which aspirations to and expectations of autonomy could lead to disappointment and disillusion. As Banks and Hesmondhalgh argue,

–‘for every individual who succeeds, there are many who do not. For many, it will be the result of a perfectly reasonable personal decision that the commitment and determination required is not for them’

-the media industry is extremely demanding and so many people cant keep up with the work load and struggle.

–the individualising discourses of ‘talent’ and ‘celebrity’ and the promise of future fame or consecration, have special purchase in creative work, and are often instrumental in ensuring compliance with the sometimes invidious demands of managers, organisations and the industry (Banks & Hesmondhalgh, p. 420).

the media industry s a risky buisness.

Wrote a book called “The Culture Industries“, for undergraduate students about the relationship between media worker and media industries.

It suggests that a career in media has a vulnerable and precarious nature, and that young people are drawn to the area because of the ideas about fame and wealth when in fact it is very rare that you will succeed in the media industry. ‘for every individual who succeeds, there are many who do not. For many, it will be the result of a perfectly reasonable personal decision that the commitment and determination required is not for them’ 

“I think a lot sadly does come down to luck and who you know. Which can be a shame, I don’t think there is a scheme set up which pushes people into just the media industry” shows that it’s difficult to make a proper career about of media and if you don’t know anyone famous at the start you will struggle to promote your work.

His book is ‘The Cultural Industries’ and it is about the relationship between media workers and the media industry. He talks about the vunerable and precarious career paths in the creative industry. Younger people are drawn into the celebrity-type lifestyle, not realising how much hard work has to go into it.

His book is called The Cultural Industries, his book is about the relationship between the media workers and the media industries.

He talks about the precarious and vulnerable nature of working in the media industry. Younger people are often easily influenced and deceived with what they’re going into.

The Media industry is set out to be a hit or miss. You can either make it or you don’t. Media is shown to younger people as a world full of fun and joy when it could be merely the opposite.

What does the Media industry do to minimise the risks?

David Hesmondhalgh has said in The Cultural Industries that to lower the risks, the industry controls commercial risks through the careful supervision of distribution and promotion practices. These are some ways of avoiding risks: star formatting – obtaining a favourable figure

1. Cultural industries  – an economic field concerned with producing, reproducing, storing, and distributing cultural goods and services on industrial and commercial terms.
2. Production – the action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured.
3. Distribution – the methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign.
4. Exhibition / Consumption – a public display of works of art or items of interest, held in an art gallery or museum or at a trade fair.
5. Media concentration – a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media.
6. Conglomerates – a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises.
7. Globalisation (in terms of media ownership) –
8. Cultural imperialism – The practice of promoting the culture values or language of one nation in another.
9. Vertical Integration – a way in which media companies expand by acquiring different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.
10. Horizontal Integration – a way in which media companies expand by acquiring media companies that work in similar sectors.
11. Mergers – an acquisition in which one or more of the undertakings involved carries on a media business in the Page 2 State and one or more of the undertakings involved carries on a media business elsewhere.
12. Monopolies – concentrated control of major mass communications within a society (illegal).
13. Gatekeepers – is a process by which information is filtered to the public by the media.
14. Regulation – a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority.
15. Deregulation – the removal of regulations or restrictions, especially in a particular industry.
16. Free market – an economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.
17. Commodification – Process by which things, services, ideas, and people relations are transformed into objects for sale. 
18. Convergence – a phenomenon involving the interconnection of information and communications technologies, computer networks, and media content.
19. Diversity – it means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. 
20. Innovation – the process of not just an “invention” of a new value for journalism, but also the process of implementing this new value in a market or a social setting to make it sustainable.

his book is called the cultural industries, it is a very set text for undergraduate students, he traces the relationship between media workers and the media industries A critical reflection that highlights the ‘myth-making’ process surrounding the potential digital future for young creatives, setting up a counter-weight against the desire of so many young people who are perhaps too easily seduced to pursue a career in the creative industries. Where the promise of wealth and fame and the celebration of a range of unlikely popular heroes including various dot.com millionaires, Young British Artists, celebrity chefs, pop stars, media entrepreneurs and the like, have according to Banks and Hesmondhalgh (2009), encouraged nascent creatives to imagine themselves as the ‘star’ at the centre of their own unfolding occupational drama.

“the individualising discourses of ‘talent’ and ‘celebrity’ and the promise of future fame or consecration, have special purchase in creative work, and are often instrumental in ensuring compliance with the sometimes invidious demands of managers, organisations and the industry “(Banks & Hesmondhalgh, p. 420).

‘for every individual who succeeds, there are many who do not. For many, it will be the result of a perfectly reasonable personal decision that the commitment and determination required is not for them’ (p. 20)

the creative industry is not all creative people

Key words:

1. Cultural industries – refers to various businesses that produce, distribute, market or sell products that belong categorically in creative arts. Including clothing, decorative material for homes, books, movies, television programs, or music.
2. Production – The making of a product (eg. the people involved in creating a film).
3. Distribution – the methods by which media products are delivered to audiences, including the marketing campaign.
4. Exhibition / Consumption – a public display of works of art or items of interest, held in an art gallery or museum or at a trade fair.
5. Media concentration –
6. Conglomerates
7. Globalisation (in terms of media ownership)
8. Cultural imperialism
9. Vertical Integration
10. Horizontal Integration
11. Mergers
12. Monopolies
13. Gatekeepers
14. Regulation
15. Deregulation
16. Free market
17. Commodification  
18. Convergence  
19. Diversity   
20. Innovation  

Answers: A = 1, B= 3, C= 5