Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

5International trade in creative goods and services: Global trends and features8 PricewaterhouseCoopers (2005).9 European Commission (2007).10 Performing Arts Employers Associations League Europe (2008).11 Nurse et al. (2007).12 Issues relating to WTO multilateral negotiations are further elaborated in chapter 9.circus and puppetry; they are usually presented for cultural,educational, entertainment and business purposes. The sectorincludes everything from solo performances by individualartists to large-scale theatrical productions by commercial,non-profit or hybrid organizations.The world market for performing arts generates anestimated $40 billion in box office revenues. 8 The largestmarkets are the United States, the United Kingdom andFrance. In this report it is not possible to provide a comprehensiveanalysis of the economic impact of performing arts,owing to the lack of data for the commercial flows of performingservices in domestic and global markets. Incomefrom performing arts derives from box-office revenues,national and international touring, performance royaltiesand taxation, for which data are seldom collected or reportednationally; consequently, it is impossible to conduct aglobal comparative analysis. Performing arts are a specialcase, since their products are expressed as an intangible orimmaterial service, unlike other creative industries where figuresfor tangible goods (such as a piece of sculpture in thecase of visual arts) serve as the basis for a quantitative analysis.In developing countries, few countries collect nationaldata on cultural performances and activities as part of thereporting for their satellite account for culture.Performing arts generally reside within the non-profitsector, which relies heavily on subsidization of activities andoperations. In most developed countries, the performing artsbenefit from government grants or subsidies and fundingfrom foundations, other non-profit organizations and corporations.For instance, the European Parliament allocated€1.5 million in 2007 for a project to facilitate the mobilityof EU artists, following the European Year on Workers’Mobility in 2006. 9 Europe is increasingly producing regulationsregarding the live performance sector. At the same time,performing arts organizations are focusing on their own concernsand challenges, in particular the financing of theirartistic missions, extension of copyright term for performersand recordings, employment and social security as well astaxation. 10In developing countries, despite the high degree ofartistic excellence and the activism of several professionalorganizations, the situation is completely different. Whensuch funds exist they are very limited. Income for the performingarts sector is generated primarily through earnedincome since few mechanisms exist to fund operating or programmingexpenses through corporate, foundation orgovernment grants or subsidies. 11 Therefore the focus in thecase of the performing arts is on the artist as the provider ofperforming services, and there are critical issues relating tolabour-market conditions and mobility that need to beaddressed at both the national and international levels.The employment conditions of artists are often precarious.Artists’ contractual obligations usually are projectbased,and periods of unemployment between engagementsare a normal feature of their working lives. Most performingartists work on an irregular, part-time or self-employedbasis, with limited coverage for medical and pensionschemes, particularly in developing countries. This is an arearequiring public policies at the national level. The ILO, incollaboration with UNESCO and other international organizations,is developing an international framework of alloccupational categories of the cultural sector. The aim is toassist governments to have the necessary information aboutthe labour aspects of their creative industries as a tool tofacilitate policy formulation for improving employment conditionsand job creation in the sector.Internationally, the mobility of artists is an issueunder negotiations at the WTO Doha Round in the contextof the GATS agreement for liberalization of trade in services.Issues related to the “free movement of natural persons”and the policy debate about the four modes of supplyingservices are particularly relevant for artists, performers, choreographers,musicians, etc. (see chapter 9). The internationalcommunity should find and agree upon solutions to provideopportunities to enable those working in performingarts to have greater access to international markets so thatthey will be able to offer and export their creative and culturalservices worldwide. 12International touring of performing artists andgroups has a dual role. From the cultural perspective, it helpsto promote cultural exchange and cultural diversity.Economically, it not only generates revenue for the performers,which translates into foreign earnings for their countries,but it also induces positive spin-offs and financial benefitsfor the hosting cities. Thanks to the wider policy debateabout the importance of the creative economy in revitalizing142 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010