Question1: What are the essentials to be considered when trying to maintain a career in the Cultural Industry?

The cultural industry may be categorised as the combination of works. These works would involve the creation, the production and the distribution of goods and services that possess some artistic value. Cultural Industries or creative industries generally include textual, music, television, and film production and publishing, as well as crafts and design. Architecture, sport, the visual and performing arts as well as cultural tourism have been seen as contributing significantly to the terminology cultural industry and have added value and is continuing to generate value for individuals and societies. The creative and cultural industries sector is a fast-expanding and economically strong one.
Within recent times talent competitions such as: Digicel Rising stars, Bmobile dance off and Synergy Soca Star have been held with the intention of grooming undiscovered individuals with talent for the cultural industry. This aims to the eventual rejuvenating of the cultural industry in Trinidad and Tobago. Art forms such as calypso/Kaiso has been seen within recent years as a dying art form and as such efforts are being made to revive it. However many persons enter the cultural industry and is eventually trampled by the lack of knowledge. One must first be aware the essentials to maintaining a career in the cultural industry. One should have the competencies to organise and manage the information and as such utilise it to develop and advance oneself and ones career in this dynamic, ever-changing, unstable industry.
When trying to maintain a career in the cultural industry, one must consider the following:
1. The Nature of the industry as it pertains to Markets; whether it possesses a niche market or not.
2. Adaptation and Versatility:-
• Adaptation of one’s art.
• Adaptation of one’s image.
• Adaptation of ones art to suit popular culture.
• Crossover appeal.
• Bridging the gap.
3. Technology and how it affects the artist/industry.
Topic One- The Nature of the industry as it pertains to Markets; whether it possesses a niche market or not.
Definition of Terms:
Industry- An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent, industrious") is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. One may consider it an aggregate of manufacturing or technically productive enterprises in a particular field, often named after its principal product: the automobile industry; the steel industry the cultural industry or the creative industry
Market- A market is any one of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby individuals are able to trade, and goods and services are exchanged, forming part of the economy. It is an arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to exchange things. Market participants consist of all the buyers and sellers of a good who influence its price
Niche Market- A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact.
When trying to maintain a career in the industry one must consider the market and whether the market is large enough to generate income. However some creators choose to enter into a niche market in an attempt to eliminate some competition and help focus on a smaller consumer audience. The concept of niche marketing can be well understood by the following example: A number of television channels cater to the need of a particular niche; for example, sports channels like STAR SPORTS, ESPN, STAR CRICKET, and TENS SPORTS target a niche of sports lovers. In the Television industry for instance the market for sporting entertainment is large. As such the channel ESPN was created, however more focus was paid to individual sports and thus began the emergence of ESPN’S niche marketing strategy. Local Individuals like Joey Lewis and Kenny J who play jazz in Trinidad and Tobago are examples of persons who have maintained a career in the niche market.
However two questions arise that must also be considered.
Question One: Is there a niche market for your particular craft/art?
Answer: While the market may be considerably large and focusing on a particularly small sector of the market may be profitable, one should also realise that creation of a niche market does not necessarily hold the same financial profit. One cannot hope to create a niche market as this is time consuming and it offers the creator of the art very little. One must identify what the population wants and if it is significant enough to financially cushion the artist then that artist may decide to enter that particular market.
For Example: A recording manager in Trinidad (Kenny Phillips) said that small church groups come to him to do recordings. However, he refused to take their money because it made no sense in his view simply because radio stations would not play it. He recognised that the market for small churches singing hymns or traditional worship songs was minor and as such would have profited the artist very little.
Question Two: How long shall this market exist?
Answer: The cultural industry is an extremely volatile one. It is dynamic in nature simple because consumer tastes change. It is somewhat impossible to say whether or not a specific niche market would be permanently in existence however for this reason versatility is encouraged. In that way, the artist would no longer confine himself to a small sector of the market but would extend and broaden his possibilities.




Topic Two: Adaptation and Versatility.
Definition of Terms
Adaptation- Can be considered the evolutionary process whereby the art is improved or altered to suit a specific market whether it is to enter the market successfully, or to maintain some level of standing as time moves on.
Versatility- Capable of doing many things competently; Variable or inconstant; changeable
Crossover appeal-
The creator can adapt his/her art to be better able to market him/herself in such a dynamic industry. Adaptation is defined as the activity of adjusting to varying contexts. Adaptation is needed when there is a mismatch between the quality of the services provided by the application and the user needs, or between the application needs and the context. Adaptation may lead to a degradation or enhancement of the quality of the provided services For instance, the functional richness of an application may be modified, or the response time of a service may be reduced.
For example: The Book “Animal Farm” was written by George Orwell and published in1945 during the period when reading was of significant importance. However as time passed and as technology developed the book was adapted into the form of film and as such was able to reach a new audience.
One can adapt ones image in the industry to reflect the product being marketed at that particular time. Adaption of one’s image is not solely limited to the change in one’s fashion choices but may extend to a change in one’s lifestyle.
For Example: Britney spears has changed her image from the conventional “catholic school girl” to a somewhat raunchy symbol of sensuality. Some have argued that this is beneficial to her because sex and sensuality sells and it shows her transition from teen, to woman. Machel Montano’s image has also changed over time along with his name.
Being able to dominate the market allows one several privileges. One of these privileges is being able to set the trend. In the fashion industry brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci have a significant influence on the market. Brands like Roca wear, House of Derion, have been setting the trends for males and females. Over time the groups were able to adapt to what their target audience wants and have developed credibility and as such would be able to dictate what is fashionable and what is not fashionable while satisfying the consumers wants.
When considering adaptability and versatility one must also think about crossover appeal. Being able to successful enter into another realm of the art form requires a level of versatility. Recording artists such as Beyoncé have been able to conquer and dominate for a period of time the pop, r&b, slows, Rock billboard charts or Jennifer Lopez and Shakira broke the language barrier by releasing English and Spanish albums. While being versatile and entering into another sector is risky it can have benefits because now the fan base is widened along with the prospects for that artist/creator.
Lastly one must remember that the cultural industry would be in existence for a long period of time and as such bridging the generation gaps would be of significant importance when trying to maintain a career in the cultural industry that would have spanned a lengthy period of time. Madonna is the greatest example of a timeless performer. Her lyrics, image, and marketing strategies have all been adapted to suit the generation of the last 50 years.
Topic Three: Technology
Technology has been seen within recent times as the foe of the music industry. With particular attention being paid to online piracy and loss of income due to online piracy, technology has been seen in a negative light. However the creator can use the technology to his/her advantage, because now it aids in terms of mass producing. As such it costs less to produce more. Carnival costumes no longer are created by hand but are shipped from china and Taiwan to Caribbean countries. In recording studios it has become easier to create a beat with the aid of keyboards and synthesizers. The individual can also now pay attention to the storage media for the creative pieces. With the introduction of the internet and ipods,itunes,blue ray discs, creators are now able to store their works and sell their works electronically which can prove to be less time consuming.