MA Creative and Cultural Industries

This course unit consists of a comprehensive critical overview of innovation and application of information and communication technology (ICTs) within the new production and consumption ecosystem (patterns, trends and flows) of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs). The course aims to provide practical understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to current CCIs markets which are driven by digitisation and new patterns of production. Students on the course will develop analytical approaches to the strategies of CCI organisations and governments which combine legal-institutional frameworks with entrepreneurship and open innovation, with an emphasis on video games, books, music, museums, fashion, and film markets.  

The study of specific sectoral cases will identify key issues within these sectors and interrogate the regulatory-legal frameworks, ICTs application, innovative mechanisms, and the impact of innovation in shaping and accessing new markets. 

Assessment will involve the development of a project plan in two parts: a) a case for support, including an analysis of the regulation/legal framework scenario of a selected CCIs sector, and b) within the context of this analysis, a business strategy for the launching of products or services in the same sector which delivers an innovative strategy to reach new markets (in the spheres of production, consumption or distribution). 

• To introduce and critically evaluate issues relating to new technologies, innovation and contemporary markets in the creative and cultural industries through literature and case study examples 

• To provide a theoretical basis for the scholarly analysis and study of the innovative practices and markets in creative and cultural  

• To establish key practical considerations for managing and leading innovation in creative and cultural enterprises 

• Through critical, research-led approaches, to identify and apply key tools and digital strategies for promoting the access to new productive models in CCIs 

Themes and content will include:  
 
Week 1 – Economic and social innovation, industrial revolutions and CCIs 

Week 2 – Creative Destruction, CCIs and the contemporaneity  

Week 3 – The XXI century’s institutional-legal architecture CCIS: Funding, IPR and New Markets 

Week 4 – The platform economy, big data, digitisation and the CCIs 

Week 5 – Case studies 1: Film, music and games 

Week 6 – Case studies 2: Book industry, fashion and digital heritage 

Weekly one hour lecture and two hour seminars with directed learning and presentations to be prepared from week to week, including presentations by guest lectures. Students will be directed to conduct fieldwork in preparation for the class in specific weeks. 

The course will have a Blackboard site with all elements of the minimum specification including: 

1. Aims, Objectives, Timetable and Mode of Assessment 

2. Course Materials 

3. Reading lists 

4. Guidance on assessment 

• Develop comprehensive understanding and be able to critically evaluate a range of contemporary issues and debates relating to innovation and new markets in the creative and cultural industries 

• Consider and be able to apply practical plans, tools and strategies to support creative innovation in the productive sphere of CCIs 

• Undertake self-directed learning and skills acquisition  

• Conduct independent data and case study analysis  

• Develop appropriate methodological and analytical skills  

• Initiate practical and creative solutions to specific criteria  

• Learn and apply practical tools and strategies for management and enterprise in the creative and cultural industries 

• Produce relevant communications materials, plans and strategies targeted at specific audiences (including reports, marketing, business planning, policy and advocacy materials) 

• Retrieve, select and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources, including libraries, archives, and the internet  

• Communicate information and ideas effectively in a professional, as well as an academic, environment  

• Critically evaluate personal performance through monitoring and analytical reflection  

• Demonstrate independent learning ability suitable for continuing study and professional development 

Case for support- 50%

Innovative business strategy- 50%

• Strategy proposal surgery and written comments (formative)
• Academic advisor meeting (formative)
• Turnitin (summative)

Cunningham, Stuart. Hidden Innovation: Policy, Industry and the Creative Sector. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014. 

Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten, and Mark B. Houston. Entertainment Science : Data Analytics and Practical Theory for Movies, Games, Books, and Music. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2019. 

Innerhofer, Elisa., Harald. Pechlaner, and Elena. Borin. Entrepreneurship in Culture and Creative Industries : Perspectives from Companies and Regions. Ed. Elisa. Innerhofer, Harald. Pechlaner, and Elena. Borin. 1st ed. 2018. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018 

Lazzeretti, Luciana. Creative Industries and Innovation in Europe : Concepts, Measures and Comparative Case Studies. New York: Routledge, 2013 

Pedersen, Jesper S. (Jesper Strandgaard) et al. Technology and Creativity : Production, Mediation and Evaluation in the Digitial Age. Ed. Jesper S. (Jesper Strandgaard) Pedersen, Barbara Slavich, and Mukti Khaire. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020 

Pellegrin-Boucher, Estelle., and Pierre. Roy. Innovation in the Cultural and Creative Industries. Newark: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2020 

Vaaler, Paul M, Raul L Katz, and Lee W McKnight. Creative Destruction: Business Survival Strategies in the Global Internet Economy. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2002.