Defining Creative Industries

We are using the DCMS (UK) based Wikipedia definition of creative industries that refers to “those industries 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”.  The Artists for the Arts definition is also referenced.   This part of Oregon’s economy includes:

• Advertising
• Architecture
• Arts and Antique Markets
• Communications
• Crafts
• Design (interior, graphic, interactive, merchandising, etc.)
• Designer Fashion
• Digital Media, Film/Video Production,
  Multimedia Design, Music Production, TV
  & Radio
• Graphic Arts
• Industrial Design
• Marketing
• Photography
• Publishing
• Software, computer games and other
  interactive applications
• Visual and Performing Arts (theater, music,
  dance, etc)

Workforce Metrics

Americans for the Arts describes Creative Industries as the high-octane fuel that drives the “information economy,” the fastest growing segment of the nation’s economy.  That same organization estimated Oregon’s Creative Industries employment base at 39,845 people in 2008.  However, that study includes only arts-related industries while the broader DCMS/world definition that we use includes software, which had an estimated workforce of  52,000 in 2006.  So in total the Creative Industries sector employs approximately 91,845 people.

In the DCMS/ Wikipedia definitions, Creative Industries and Creative Economy are completely synonymous terms.