In my last article I posed a question that received a lot of feedback, so I thought it best to address that head on. It’s really important that we are all on the same page as regards what constitutes a creative industry. According to the British Council, “At the heart of the creative economy are the cultural and creative industries that lie at the crossroads of arts, culture, business and technology. It includes thirteen sectors: advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, video games, music, the performing arts, publishing, software, and television and radio.”
I believe that the easiest way to prove viability of this industry would be to attach an actual dollar value. In a January 2016 press release the UK Government stated that the creative industry is worth almost £10 million an hour. UNESCO published a global map of the creative and cultural economy and valued the US creative industry at US$620 billion annually. What shocked even me, was the fact that in Latin America and the Caribbean the creative industry is worth US$128 billion, and has created 1.9 million jobs.
