THE European Commission’s recent study, Mapping the Creative Value Chains - A Study On The Economy Of Culture In The Digital Age, is a follow up to KEA’s ground-breaking 2006 research on the Economy of Culture in Europe.
This report assessed the economic and social importance of the culture sector for the first time at European Unions level and the follow up is just as useful as it looks to the impact of the digital age.
The report maps the impact of the digital revolution on the different creative value chains. It also analyses how value is created and distributed within each cultural and creative sector, from the conception to the commercialisation of cultural goods and services.
“The Cultural and creative sectors (CCS) have become well established in both an economic and policy context as important assets in strengthening Europe’s economic structure and maintaining its competitiveness in the global economy.
“However, the competitive position of CCS is continuously challenged by exogenous factors affecting creative value chains, especially digitisation. From creation to actual consumption, all steps in the value chains have been influenced by new digital solutions, bringing about new opportunities for innovative practices and even creating radically new types of interaction with audiences.
“At the same time, digitisation poses significant challenges for CCS actors, such as the increase of piracy as well as increased pressure on existing models of value creation and remuneration,” the report’s authors argue.
The study provides recommendations for policy makers to develop an enabling environment for European cultural and creative industries (CCIs), which represent 4.4% of the European GDP and 3.8% of jobs (8.3 million people), to remain competitive.
Download the full report here.
