The Cultural Industries
- David Hesmondhalgh - University of Leeds, UK
Bringing together a huge range of research, theory and key concepts, David Hesmondhalgh provides an accessible yet critical exploration of cultural production and consumption in the global media landscape. This new edition:
- Analyses the influence of IT and tech companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook on the cultural industries.
- Discusses the impact of digital technologies on industries such as music, TV, newspapers, books and digital games.
- Explores the effects of digitalisation on culture, discussing critical issues like participation, power, commercialism, surveillance, and labour.
- Examines the changing conceptions of audiences, and the increasing influence of market research, audience tracking and advertising.
As one of the most read, most studied and most cited books in the field, this Fourth Edition is an essential resource for students and researchers of media and communication studies, the cultural and creative industries, cultural studies and the sociology of the media.
The book is essential for understanding the media and creative industries better. Any course and study program in the area can benefit from a reflective appreciation of the subject for which the book offers a sublime comprehensive overview.
I found the book difficult to use. I would not recommend it for this reason. For my purposes it was too difficult to find the relevant sections.
The fourth edition of this classic book certainly provides various essential readings for students of media and communication. I'm particularly interested in the way the book tackles questions around participation, surveillance, power and labour. While, the whole book provides a fascinating and rather comprehensive perspective on the cultural industries, I will only be using sections from this text, as first-year students will only focus on certain aspects of cultural production and consumption.
The Cultural Industries offers a prime basis for a course such as Cultural Studies, with up-to-date chapters on the consequences of the digital networks. It can be both read extensively or used instrumentally thanks to the very complete index.
