Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

socio-economic growth, performing artists are becomingmore eloquent in asserting their labour rights and demandingbetter employment conditions. On the other hand, governmentsseem more open for a dialogue and more willing toadopt policy instruments to improve the social and economicsituation of creative professionals — both artists andtechnicians — working in the performing sector. Mattersrelated to intellectual property, in particular the extension ofcopyright term for performers, tax regulations and permitapplication procedures are key issues that need to be effectivelytackled. One of the success stories featured in chapter1 (see box 1.5) concerns a performing arts organization thatreinvented a traditional art form, the circus.MusicFeaturesMusic is one of the central creative industries, withgreat cultural and economic value in all societies. Everywherein the world, music is the universal idiom to give expressionto our feelings and aspirations. Sharing a musical experience,whether domestically or internationally, is an act that goesbeyond established boundaries and transcends existingdivides. For centuries, composers, singers and musicians havebeen carrying their local musical traditions across geographicalborders, contributing to the fusion of music stylesamong many cultures even if the lyrics remain an expressionof cultural diversity mirroring local realities. Music is anessential instrument of intercultural dialogue.Today, thanks to technological advances, local musiccan reach global audiences almost instantaneously. Digitaltechnologies are also changing the way music is created, produced,reproduced, commercialized and consumed innational and global markets. The trade in music has becomevery closely linked to the use of new digital tools such asInternet peer-to-peer networks, mobile telephones and MP3players. As a consequence, the world market for music hasadapted to changing business models emerging from newforms of production, marketing and distribution of musicgoods and services (see chapters 3 and 7).Music is not only a form of cultural expression and asource of entertainment, but also a dynamic industry inglobal trade and big business in the world economy, responsiblefor millions of jobs and income-generation worldwide.Trade figures for physical goods alone, such as sales of CDsand tapes, cannot capture the huge contribution of the musicindustry to the economies of many countries. The valuechain and the market structure of the music industry are verycomplex. The size of international markets eludes analysisbecause statistics and economic indicators are incomplete.The absence of figures for copyright revenues and the obscurityof intra-firm financial transactions of the large transnationalconglomerates, usually vertically and horizontally integrated,which dominate the production, distribution andcopyrights of music products, are missing links for anysound analysis of the world music industry.Music is part of the performing arts subgroup of creativeindustries when considered in terms of live performancesand concerts. However, it may also be included as partof the broader area of audiovisuals when dealing with thecreation of sound records and compositions. Music can alsobe classified under the new-media subgroup when musicgoods and services are traded virtually as creative content indigitalized form. For these reasons, music is featured separatelyin this report for the purpose of trade and statisticalanalysis.The music industry faces a difficult paradox: whilemore and more music is being consumed worldwide, particularlyby youth, the earnings received by songwriters, producersand performers have been declining. This situationreflects two key issues: (a) the lacunae in the current regimesof IPRs, and (b) the need for songwriters and the singers toretain greater control over their music and make better use ofall ICT tools for accessing global markets. The music industryfaces a number of challenges in tackling these issues. Thefirst is to call for the enforcement of development-orientedcopyright legislation by governments and internationaltreaties. The second is to develop a commercially viable andlegitimate alternative to the illegal but free downloading ofcopyrighted content. Indeed, a piece of written music can beprotected by copyright and related rights at each stage of itslife, and the composition can be protected for the composer’slifetime plus seventy years. In practice, however, a publisheroffers to buy the rights of a piece of music and seeksto exploit it by means of recordings. 13 As UNCTAD analysishas indicated, “Despite some early success in several forpaymusic download portals, the creative and business powerof the Internet will be greatly advanced when artists, industryand audiences master how to better commercializepeer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing” and online distribution. 14 143CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 201013 This straightforward explanation is shared by Howkins (2001:100). This report further elaborates on issues relating to intellectual property rights in chapter 6.14 UNCTAD (2004:61-94), E-Commerce and Development Report 2004, contains a comprehensive analysis of this matter.5International trade in creative goods and services: Global trends and features