Booklist
Caves is a Harvard professor of political economy and author of a number of books on industrial efficiency, productivity, and competition. He admits to a two-decade fascination with the economics of the artistic and creative endeavor, but Caves worries that others may regard this interest as "frivolous." Consequently, he thought it better to establish his "reputation for professional seriousness" before attempting this analysis. Caves looks at the visual and performing arts, cinema and television, sound recordings, book publishing, and toys and games to investigate how the theory of contracts and the logic of economic organization affect the production of "simple creative goods" and more "complex goods" like plays or motion pictures, which require teams of artists with diverse talents. Under Caves' scrutiny, art collectors and moviegoers are consumers; gallery owners are "gatekeepers"; and critics are "certifiers." His work is both serious and scholarly and anything but "frivolous." David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Book Description
Creative Industries Contracts between Art and Commerce Richard E. Caves This book explores the organization of creative industries, including the visual and performing arts, movies, theater, sound recordings, and book publishing. In each, artistic inputs are combined with other, "humdrum" inputs. But the deals that bring these inputs together are inherently problematic: artists have strong views; the muse whispers erratically; and consumer approval remains highly uncertain until all costs have been incurred. To assemble, distribute, and store creative products, business firms are organized, some employing creative personnel on long-term contracts, others dealing with them as outside contractors; agents emerge as intermediaries, negotiating contracts and matching creative talents with employers. Firms in creative industries are either small-scale pickers that concentrate on the selection and development of new creative talents or large-scale promoters that undertake the packaging and widespread distribution of established creative goods. In some activities, such as the performing arts, creative ventures facing high fixed costs turn to nonprofit firms. To explain the logic of these arrangements, the author draws on the analytical resources of industrial economics and the theory of contracts. He addresses the winner-take-all character of many creative activities that brings wealth and renown to some artists while dooming others to frustration; why the "option" form of contract is so prevalent; and why even savvy producers get sucked into making "ten-ton turkeys," such as Heaven's Gate. However different their superficial organization and aesthetic properties, whether high or low in cultural ranking, creative industries share the same underlying organizational logic. Richard E. Caves is Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. June 61/8 x 91/4 480 pp.
