Creative Industries
Where is 'there good work' in the creative industries? Are we most creative when we are least productive?
With high levels of self-employment, micro-businesses, invisible unpaid work and ad hoc projects, working in the creative industries raises challenging questions about productivity, wellbeing and the future of work.
‘Creative labour’ can be highly skilled and intrinsically satisfying, engaging our emotions and imaginations. It is also precarious, exploitative and fraught with inequalities and exclusions. At the core of the creative industries is the creative process – a form of productive work, and part of our unproductive ‘free time’ – a source of employment and GDP, and a vital aspect of mental health and wellbeing.
Researching work and productivity requires an interdisciplinary approach – at Warwick researchers in cultural policy, media and theatre collaborate with colleagues from the business school, social sciences and manufacturing. We want to place creativity and creative work at the core of questions of productivity, work and wellbeing. We welcome participation and collaboration from across the university and beyond.
Hear more from our Creative Industries theme lead Dr Chris Bilton:
Some examples of recent research around Creative Industries, at Warwick, can be found below in the Publications, Blogs and Previous Webinars Sections:
Publications
- Balancing act : motivation and creative work in the lived experience of writers and musicians.
Chris Bilton, Doris Ruth Eikhof and Charlotte Gilmore (2020)
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 27 (6). pp. 738-752. - Creativity 2.0: new approaches to creative economy work and education in the creative industries.
Chris Bilton (2020) In: G. Hearn (ed.) The Future of Creative Work: Creativity and Digital Disruption - Cultural policy as mythical narrative.
Chris Bilton and Gonzalo Soltero (2019)
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 26 (5). pp. 681-696. - A creative industries perspective on creativity and culture.
Chris Bilton (2016) In: Glăveanu, Vlad Petre, (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture . London : Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 661-679. - Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries
David Hesmondhalgh, D. and Sarah Baker, S. (2011) - The Palgrave Handbook of Creativity at Work
Lee Martin and Nick Wilson
Blogs & Podcasts
'Creativity at work: business as usual?'
Dr Chris Bilton
Can we work digitally and still have spontaneous encounters that inspire new ideas?
Dr Chris Bilton explores the limits of digital culture and how we can make space for chance encounters and keep creativity alive.
'Productivity in a time of Coronavirus: Lessons from an artist'
Dr Chris Bilton
Dr Chris Bilton explores what it means to be productive as an artist and how this could help us all in a time of Coronavirus.
'We'll Meet Again' PodcastLink opens in a new window
Chris Bilton from the Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies and thematic lead for Creative Industries, talks to people in the arts and creative industries about life under lockdown - what's changing and what needs to change.
Previous Webinars
Artists with benefits: could a future welfare system level the playing field for cultural workers?
Chair: Dr Chris Bilton (Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies, University of Warwick)
Panel composition: Mags Patten (Arts Council England), Stephen Brown (Musicians Union) and Dr Heidi Ashton (University of Warwick).
'Productivity in a time of Coronavirus: Lessons from an artist'
Dr Chris Bilton
How much work have you done today? Have you been ‘productive’? Dr Chris Bilton explores what it means to be productive as an artist and how this could help us all in a time of Coronavirus. Could seeing productivity through the creative lens help us to be authentically ‘productive’ in a time of coronavirus?
