Understanding innovation in communication industries through alternative economic theories The case of the music industry
With Jim Rogers, International Communication Gazette November 2011 vol. 73 no. 7 610-629
This article argues that communication scholars should collaborate with pluralist economists rather than traditional... more This article argues that communication scholars should collaborate with pluralist economists rather than traditional ones, as alternative economic theories are better suited to understanding the complex process of innovation in communication industries and to integration into multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks. In order to illustrate this point, first the main features of traditional economics that are incompatible with the study of the communication sector are outlined, then, a selection of theories and concepts from complexity economics, modularity and service innovation studies are presented. Moreover, as an illustration of the value of alternative economic theories in explaining change in the communication sector, these concepts are used to outline some of the most important changes and trends that have affected the music industry as a result of its digitization.
'Cinema Distribution in the Age of Digital Projection'
Forthcoming in Post Script special volume on Distribution edited by Dean Conrad.
In this paper I explore the different ways in which digital projection has been adopted by the cinema distribution and... more
In this paper I explore the different ways in which digital projection has been adopted by the cinema distribution and exhibition industries in the UK, the European Union (EU) and the United States, arguing that whilst in America digital projection has largely been embraced on a commercial basis, in Europe, where there was initially a slower take up of digital distribution, there has been a tendency for governments to subsidize the technology for cultural reasons. I examine the current state of digital projection, investigating why it has taken longer for digital technologies to permeate into distribution and exhibition (as opposed to image capture and post production), and looking at the aesthetic and economic drivers and challenges which have delayed the full-scale conversion to digital cinema (D-cinema). The essay ends by exploring the dilemma of digital distribution for the viability of the 35mm release print, the impact of this on film stock production, and how this will affect film preservation,even of those films that are born digital.
This is the published version of a talk I gave at Watershed Media Centre, Bristol at 'The Look: From Capture to Display - Digital Cinema Aesthetics and Workflows' Symposium organised by Terry Flaxton. You can view a video of my presentation at:
http://www.dshed.net/content/look-exhibition-and-display