Cultural Industries and the Creative Economy – Vague but Useful Concepts

For those new to it, the literature on cultural industries can be confusing. While some authors refer to cultural industries, others refer to cultural‐products industries or creative industries. Collectively, this heterogeneous group of industries comprises the cultural economy or the creative economy. Four typologies are presented, enabling one to more easily compare and contrast the essential features of commonly used definitions. The paper then discusses how this vague bundle of concepts is still useful as a lens on contemporary trends in industrialized economies.