Arts Pr
Industry analysis
Sector size, value
There are a variety of sources when considering the size of the creative and arts industries, in 2007 made up 7.3% of the economy growing at 5% a year and employed 1.8 million people. Rt Hon Tessa Jowell, MP (DCMS 2007:6) However in recent years with a massive economic downturn these figure have changed according a to a government report in 2013 the creative industries now only employ 1.5 million people but generates 36 billion a year. Rt Hon Maria Miller, MP (GOV 2013)
Key players
While many pr agencies may cover Arts and creative industries under their remit there are a number of firms that concern themselves more exclusively with this sector including Black Arts PR, Sutton PR, Flint Public Relations Ltd and Bonner & Hindley. Most of these agencies operate out of London but that is not to say that there are no Creative industry specialists around the UK, Especially given the shift in large amounts of creative industries migration to the north, notably the BBC relocation to Salford Quays.
Trends
Within the creative sector there have been a number of trends specific to the industry sector as well as trends that affect a number of industries Specifically affecting the creative industry has been growth. Despite the dip in employment across the industry, which correlates with decreased growth in employment across the UK due to economic downturn, there has been growth in the creative industries I terms of media formats and a growth in use of celebrity as brands. Celebrity growth impacts a variety of industries including fashion and media, in the arts sector celebrity status s accorded to artists, musicians and performers and any number of spurious sources such as being a WAG or being a contestant on reality TV. The growth of celebrity presents key opportunities for the generation of media content. A piece of media may generate attention just on the merit of its celebrity involvement regardless of the quality of the content. The growth of technology has affected the industry in a number of ways, the creation of new media formats such a social media, YouTube, facebook, twitter etc. these new formats massively impact of the way the industry from a communications standpoint, creating a whole host of new opportunities and well as artistic mediums and a new format of technology e.g. YouTube celebrities, one just has to look at the success of gangam style to see that technology has played a significant role in allowing a north Korean pop star to rise to fame in America and Europe.
This also indicates a rise in the global market, the arts industry is now global the internet allows for the sharing and promotion of arts from a variety of cultures across the globe. The fields of music and film has a seen a sharp increase in interest in foreign markets, bands from across the world can garner followings in countries they have never visited and services such as Netflix now offer a host of non English films due to a demand for a more global culture. As always the arts industry faces the fact that its very core it is product driven, without a product there is no consumer but whilst the consumers needs are of greater importance to many sectors the producers and creators of the arts industries needs are of importance as well.
Key stake holders
This diagram from Tench and Yeomans (2004:607) illustrates the key stakeholders within the arts industry.
SWOT and PEST Analysis
Having looked at the sector, trends and keys stakeholders it becomes relevant to analysis the sector using PEST and SWOT to gain an understanding of the key issues faced by the industry
Career Viability
Advantage and disadvantages of a career in Arts PR
As with a variety of sectors or pr there are both a number of advantages and disadvantages to working within the sector Within the arts sectors the fragmented nature of the industry means thats there a myriad of specialities within that a practitioner could specialise in such as, museums, theatre, TV, film, radio, digital installations, music (and within those genres and styles) etc, the sector remains diverse and continues to spread in its remit. Likewise the diversity of the industry means that geographically whilst London and Manchester remain solid artistic hubs there is scope to work anywhere in the UK and beyond. Unfortunately the diversity of the industry is also a potential pitfall, the market is very competitive in both popular and specialist areas. Due to the popularity and creativity of the arts, the industry remains a haven for creative people, meaning there is competition for employment within the sector. Due to this competition it can mean that salaries for agencies in the arts sector may be lower than those of more lucrative sectors such as finance.
Skills and attributes required to wo rk in the sector.
All Pr functions require a similar set of skills and attributes such as writing skills, confidence, people & networking skills etc. working within the arts brings an addition set of concerns to the practitioner. Arts pr as previously mentioned in product driven, this means the producer is especially important to maintain a good relationship with as they may have certain wants and needs that differ from other stakeholders, artists may be temperamental ad protective of their creation, many artists do not wish to sell out and this may require and extra level of considerations from a communications standpoint. A practitioner in the arts sector must be aware of any and all niche media outlets that operate within his area of specialisations and in the art world these outlets can be created or change overnight. Much like in fashion PR and practitioner within arts must diligently keep up to date with the latest trends within the industry. In terms of background training it would seem that given the criteria described, a PR in the arts must be trained in a number of skills but overall must have a true passion for the industry.
