Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries: An International Perspective

Citation

Ratten, V. (2008), "Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries: An International Perspective", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 6, pp. 492-492. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040810901909

Entrepreneurship covers a vast array of different areas, which makes it so interesting. This edited book by Colette Henry examines an area of entrepreneurship, which is still gaining mainstream momentum. This area of creative industries is the topic of the book and the book includes twelve chapters written by numerous international scholars. The book is divided into two parts: the nature of creative entrepreneurship and supporting the creative industries sector. The chapters in the first and second parts of the book are very interesting to read and well written. At the beginning of the book there is an introductory chapter by the editor that highlights the growing importance of the creative industries in the global economy. The editor defines creative industries as “a set of interlocking, knowledge‐intensive industry sectors focusing on the creation and exploitation of intellectual property” (page 1). The first part includes six chapters on various geographic areas that include East and Southeast Asia, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Oceania. The first chapter further explains the strong importance of the creative industries to encouraging creative diversity and globalization. The third chapter by Maria Aggestam discusses art‐entrepreneurship in the Scandinavian music industry. This chapter is useful in linking the study of creative industries to entrepreneurship. Aggestam focuses on the role of corporate venturing in the arts and includes a section on the music industry. The fifth chapter examines entrepreneurship features of creative industries in the Irish music and dance sector. Barra O Cinneide and Colette Henry who are the authors of the fifth chapter discuss how the creative industry has grown through the advancement in technology. The authors also argue that foreign collaborations have also driven exports and foreign direct investment in the creative industries. The authors in the chapter also write about the characteristics of creative entrepreneurs, which include a risk‐taking propensity for artists to make new songs. The second part of the book is titled “supporting the creative industries sector” and includes six chapters on different areas such as investment, arts education and innovation. The ninth chapter by Linda Moss is on encouraging creative enterprise in Russia. This chapter is very interesting to read and highlights the importance of creative industries in rapidly changing countries. The author points out that there are a number of special characteristics of Russia, which are favourable to creative enterprise development. These include the importance placed on high‐class tailoring workshops, informal networks and amateur clubs. Overall, I found the book a delight to read. The book is novel and covers an important area of entrepreneurship that is definitely worthy of more attention. The book is useful to practitioners in the creative industries field that want to learn more about the international importance of the sector and also to academics who conduct research in the area.