Beyond the creative industries: mapping the creative economy in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The creative industries are one of the most
important contributors to the UK economy.
So it is important that we accurately measure
their contribution to economic activity. Doing
so can help both policymakers and industry
professionals to communicate key concepts,
share reliable data and make the case for
greater investment.
There have been renewed attempts to estimate
the true size of the creative economy. The
Department for Culture Media and Sport
(DCMS) and the Greater London Authority
(GLA) both published studies in 2007. This
report complements their work and seeks to
improve on the available data about the true
extent of creative activity within the economy.
What are the creative industries?
The creative industries have been hampered
by multiple defi nitions and a lack of consistent
treatment on what is classifi ed as creative
activity. The DCMS defi nes the creative
industries as those “which have their origin in
individual creativity, skill and talent and which
have a potential for wealth and job creation
through the generation and exploitation of
intellectual property”. It identifi es thirteen
different sectors.
The 2001 household census – the most recent
census conducted in the UK – allows eleven
creative industries to be identifi ed, covering
both businesses that create cultural ‘products’
including the arts, fi lms and interactive
games, and those providing business-tobusiness
services in areas such as architecture,
advertising, marketing and design, and web
and software development. The term embraces
radio and TV, news agencies and publishing, as
well as jewellery manufacture and museums.
From the 2001 census data, we can identify
26 creative occupation groups. They include:
town planners and graphic designers;
advertising managers and furniture makers;
actors and librarians; journalists and software
professionals; architects and archivists. These
occupation groups have evolved over the years,
as some professions did not feature in the 1981
or 1991 censuses. Those working in creative
jobs do not always work in creative industries.
The DCMS estimates that in 2006 there were
800,000 creative jobs outside the creative
industries adding to the estimated 1.1 million
people working in the creative industries.
The Creative Trident
The model of a ‘Creative Trident’ brings
together those working in the creative
industries and those working in specialist
creative jobs in other fi rms and organisations.
By developing this model, we can analyse the
true number of people employed in creative
activities and industries and their average
incomes.
We focus on three types of employment:
‘specialist’ artists, professionals or creative
individuals working in creative industries;
‘support’ staff in those industries providing
management, secretarial, administrative or
accountancy back-up; and creative individuals
‘embedded’ in other industries not defi ned as
‘creative’. Collectively, they are the ‘creative
workforce’.
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For our model, we have further segmented this
workforce into six classifi cations: advertising
and marketing; architecture, visual arts and
design; fi lm, TV, radio and photography; music
and performing arts; publishing; and software,
computer games and electronic publishing.
These groups include creative people working
in other industries.
How our model is different
CCI originally developed this model in 2005
for Australia. It differs from previous models in
three key respects: it uses population data (the
number of people employed in each occupation
within every industry) to provide more accurate
estimates; it employs a conservative approach
to the selection of ‘creative’ occupations and
industries, to avoid overreach and enable better
comparability between the segments and to
the economy as a whole; and it allows us, for
the fi rst time, to estimate creative incomes.
However, to compensate for diffi culties with
the frequency and level of aggregation of
UK census data, our methodology combines
population data with that provided by the
Labour Force Survey (LFS).
To ensure that the estimates are as robust
as possible – and that we can make valid
comparisons – we have focused on those who
add most creative value to a process, excluding
such activities as the manufacture of TV sets or
musical instruments that employ small numbers
of creative professionals. By doing so, we fi nd,
for example, that in 2001 only 37 per cent of
those employed in publishing were in creative
occupations; the same applies to 46 per cent of
those in advertising or 44 per cent in radio and
TV activities.
We have also excluded those occupations
which are ostensibly creative but which
have very low rates of employment within
the creative industries. Using this sort of
defi nition, we exclude 14 groups included in
DCMS calculations – including public relations
offi cers, ICT managers and printers – but add
fi ve new groups, including draughtspersons,
software professionals and librarians.
Why this is a better model
This model offers policymakers fi ve advantages
over other models.
First, it focuses on core • creative added value,
excluding activities in related chains that are
not central to the creative process, such as
distribution or retailing.
• Second, it enables us better to map the
extent of creative individuals working in
other sectors.
• Third, it distinguishes between creative
individuals and others who work in creative
industries, a useful tool for skills and
business development.
• Fourth, it uses census data rather than
sample surveys, wherever possible.
• And fi nally, it enables us to determine the
total personal earnings arising from creative
employment, a useful indicator of its
economic value.