Product Description

Britain makes more money from music than from its car industry. In the United States the core copyright industries achieved foreign sales and exports of $60.18 billion - a figure which surpasses, for the first time, every other export sector, including automobiles, agriculture and aircraft. Howkins sets out to explore how we can harness creativity and the industry it sustains to our common interests. This book is not about information and the information society. It is about more basic matters, what we humans want and what we are good at.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47996 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Creative Economy John Howkins argues that intellectual property is far more important today than "hard goods" and that creativity itself should now be viewed as a defining commercial factor. The examples quoted at the start of the book, including Amazon.com's copyrighting of its sales methodology and the British patent for the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep, illustrate the range of forms creativity can take. Throughout the rest of the book, Howkins uses a similarly wide range of examples to explain his theory that creativity will be the dominant economic form of the 21st century.

In its 230 pages The Creative Economy ranges widely in scope. Its seven chapters discuss various creative industries including art, video games, music, film and fashion. Digital technology and its central role is the subject of a separate chapter, as is the management of ideas as a profit-making enterprise. At the openings of his chapters, Howkins reports his interviews with a range of important figures from musician Bob Geldof to architect Richard Rogers and businesswoman Anita Roddick. The overall style, though, is intellectual and with little to break up the dense prose it is, despite the many real-world examples, not always an easy read. It's worth the effort though; Howkins presents a forceful argument, enough perhaps to convince readers with an eye for business to get his or her thinking cap on. --Sandra Vogel

About the Author
John Howkins is Deputy Chairman of the British Screen Advisory Council and has worked as a consultant for Time Warner, ABC, IBM and many other companies and institutions. His previous publications include UNDERSTANDING TELEVISION, MASS COMMUNICATIONS IN CHINA and NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW POLICIES.

Customer Reviews

Excellent - the way forward
Two decades ago at school I opted for A level Economics and Art. My teachers could not undertsand why and thought the mix would be useless. How wrong they were, today I can benefit from both economics and art in the Creative Economy. I picked this book up thinking it'd probably end up on the shelf with all my other dull unread, over written business books. But once I started reading it I was hooked. It's modern day wisdom. We are entering the next phase after IT - the Creative Economy (CE). In the CE the most valuable thing is intellectual capital. Thinking. This is something I been banging on about for ages so it was nice to read it explained and expanded in a book. I've just left a world famous ad agency to set up a more dynamic one (Fuel). Specially designed to be in tune with the CE - stategy is more valuable than selling execution (which is what ad agencies are still doing). This book filled in the missing pieces. A great read and a way forward. A must read for anyone setting up a new business for the CE.

Must read for people & companies who value their ideas
Finally a very good management book that isn't American. Easy to read, not full of jargon and based on perfectly good sense for individuals for whom ideas are a source of income and pride, and for companies who understand that what makes them really different is how they manage their ideas and brands. John calls this intellectual property (IP)

Full of useful insight for everyone from the CEO to struggling musicians: A book for all people. On the basis that in this modern age things should work better than they actually do, John argues that our economic models are no longer relevent. He has a point and is worth listening to on this one.

Especially helpful to marketing and brand people who are looking for the extra edge that differentiates the way they think and behave from their competition.

MOre please...

creative economics of cultural studies
This book is categorised as 'Business' but perhaps should be in the Cultural Studies section. Fantastic, exactly what I was looking for, I wish I'd read it years ago.
The how people make money from ideas tagline doesn't mean this book is a 'how-to-do-it'