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REVIEW

Patrick M. McCurdy

Cultural Industries
A Review of
Hesmondhalgh, David. 2002. The Cultural Industries. London: Sage Publications.

The Cultural Industries is an ambitious contribution to the current academic debate surrounding the global cultural industries. Employing the term the cultural
industries in any context, let alone as the subject and title for a book, is a risky
undertaking. Much like its semantic cousin globalization, the concept of the culture industries (and its related academic adaptations) has a diverse and ideologically conflicted history. Beginning with the work of Frankfurt School scholars on
the Culture Industry (Adorno and Horkheimer [1944] 1977) the past sixty years
of cultural studies inspired research has seen the concept of the cultural industry
reworked, pluralized, contextualized and tailored to suit ones theoretical needs.
For David Hesmondhalgh, the cultural industries may be defined as institutions
that are directly involved in the production of social meaning (Hesmondhalgh
2002: 11). The books specific interest is on the core cultural industries which,
according to the author, consist of advertising, broadcasting, film, music, publishing, electronic gaming and Internet industries. Notably absent from the authors
taxonomy is professional sport. Although it is recognized as an important borderline case, I would argue that a convincing case using the authors own classification system could be put forward for its inclusion in the core cultural industries.
After outlining what constitutes the cultural industries, Hesmondhalgh discloses
the main focus of his book: to explore, explain and evaluate change in the core
cultural industries over the past fifty years. The goal of the book is to consider how
changes in the trinity of technology, policy and business have had an impact on the
core cultural industriesby no means a modest objective
The Cultural Industries is divided into two main sections. Section one comprises
the books analytical framework. Over the course of three chapters in a thesis-

like manner, Hesmondhalgh methodically prepares the reader for his eventual
analysis. Approaches to Culture offers a selective survey of past theoretical approaches to the cultural industries. Highlighted in this brief literature review are
political, economic, sociological and cultural studies theories. It should be noted
that Hesmondhalghs treatment of past cultural industries scholarship is quite brief.
A discussion of previous academic approaches is a means for him to unveil his
distinctive approach, which he does in Chapter 2, and not an end in itself. To give
Hesmondhalgh his due, each chapter in The Cultural Industries closes with a useful
further reading section that recommends additional sources. Accordingly, Chapter
1 closes by suggesting a number of supplementary publications that give a more
comprehensive treatment to past thought in the field of media, communications
and popular culture.

At the core of The Cultural Industries is the second section, entitled Change and
Continuity in the Cultural Industries, which develops its argument through a
number of illustrative case studies. For example, in Chapter 4 Hesmondhalgh
provides an historical analysis of past trends in the national (de)regulation of the
cultural industries with a specific emphasis on public broadcasting in the U.K.,
France, Germany and Austria. Chapter 6 analyzes the television industry in Latin
America. Chapter 5 offers an informative overview of the trend of media mergers
in addition to providing the first hint of the authors ultimate conclusion.
Hesmondhalgh argues, despite the existence of bigger-than-ever corporations
that small companies continue to play an important part in the cultural industries (171). The goal of these and the many other compressed case studies contained in The Cultural Industries is to argue that we still live in the complex
professional era. So, although advances in digital devices have transformed the
technological landscape of the cultural industries, they have not ushered in a new
era of cultural production. In the authors words, the fundamental features of the
cultural industries established in the mid-twentieth century remain (260).
While The Cultural Industries is peppered with a selection of international case
studies, there is a heavy tendency for it to focus on Western, if not American
cultural industries. A suitable retort to this observation would be that the United
States has been a leading catalyst, or at least a conduit, for the production and
distribution of cultural texts. Therefore, to gain an appreciation for the global
environment, one must attempt to understand its major influences.

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Chapters 2 and 3 provide the books theoretical and methodological framework.

Hesmondhalgh characterizes his theoretical inclination as a particular type of
political economy approach, informed by certain aspects of empirical sociology of
culture, communication studies and cultural studies (47). Despite identifying himself
as a political economist, Hesmondhalghs cultural studies leanings are unashamedly evident in his adaptation of Raymond Williamss concept of the corporate
professional (Wiliams 1981: 51-52). In the spirit of Williams work, Hesmondhalgh
employs the term complex professional to describe, the whole era of cultural
production from the 1950s onwards (Hesmondhalgh 2002: 51). Thus the underlying question of The Cultural Industries asks: despite the emergence of digital
media, do we still exist in the complex professional era? (51)

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Along the same lines as the above observation, The Cultural Industries is all but
devoid of Canadian content. This remark is not intended as a cutting critique of
Hesmondhalghs book. It is unrealistic to expect a British author concentrating on
a U.S.-led phenomenon to include adequate mention of Canada. Furthermore,
this oversight does not necessarily detract from the books value as a general text
on and analysis of predominantly Western-based cultural industries. However, given
that Hesmondhalgh devotes a large amount of attention to English-language nations, some exploration of broadcasting in Canada would have provided an interesting contrast to the dialectic of U.S. vs. U.K. broadcasting models that he presents.
As it is, this lacunae might make it inadequate as a text in university classes that
wish to provide a Canadian angle on the culture industries.

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In summary, The Cultural Industries is written in an accessible fashion, complemented by a systematic layout. Accordingly, while not explicitly a textbook, The
Cultural Industries is perhaps most useful as an undergraduate course reader or
resource. The arguments within The Cultural Industries provide both a timely overview
of current scholarship and offer a unique multidisciplinary approach to the topic
in a clear and concise manner. Inevitably, some scholars will object to
Hesmondhalghs conclusion that digital technology has not ushered in a new age of
cultural production. Perhaps, then, the ultimate value in The Cultural Industries
does not rest in its conclusion, but in the insight it offers neophytes keen on
surveying scholarship on the cultural industries.
References
Adorno, Theodor and Max Horkheimer. [1944] 1971. The Culture Industry:
Enlightenment as Mass Deception. In Mass Communication and Society, edited by James
Curran, Michael Gurevitch and Janet Wollacott, 349-83. London: Edward Arnold.
Williams, Raymond. 1981. Culture. London: Fontana.