Music and Performing Arts: Digital Trends and Strategies is part of the IDB’s editorial series, Art, Culture and New Technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean, that aims at identifying the ways in which technology can drive innovation in the creative economy. The sector generates a multidimensional impact rarely analyzed from an economic perspective, considering them productive activities worthy of attention and promotion. These industries provide entertainment while also contributing to the economy by creating jobs —many of them based on innovation and creativity—, creating attractive assets for investment, talent and tourism, and by fostering social cohesion, while promoting mutual understanding and empathy. 

The EU/UNESCO programme ‘Supporting new regulatory frameworks to strengthen the cultural and creative industries and promote South‑South cooperation’, implemented in 12 UNESCO Member States between 2018 and 2022, leveraged peer‑to‑peer learning as an innovative and effective way to create, strengthen and update policies and regulatory frameworks that support creativity, while promoting diplomatic and cultural exchanges between peers. This toolkit captures the success of the programme. It details each phase of the peer‑to‑peer learning process, lists dos and don’ts, and offers key recommendations. Policymakers, civil society representatives, cultural practitioners and stakeholders are invited to rely on the guidance provided by this tool to develop better informed and stronger policies and regulatory frameworks for creativity, as well as strong networks among creative sectors.

From dance to puppetry, museums to festivals, indigenous creators to intangible heritage practitioners, thousands of individuals and organizations joined the movement to make their voices heard. Over 350 ResiliArt roundtables were organized in less than two and a half years, providing UNE-SCO with an unprecedented number of first-hand accounts of what it means to be a creator today and pointing towards the necessary transformations to ensure a more sustain-able sector.

While music rights holders are collectively being remunerated more than ever before, the (re)distribution of revenue in the music streaming value chain remains extremely uneven and opaque. When the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed live performance opportunities, it became clear that despite the success of music streaming, the great majority of artists remain unable to rely on digital revenues alone to sustain their livelihoods. This policy brief provides a critical overview of the challenges and opportunities posed by different revenue-sharing systems for the music sector’s main stakeholders, including artists, composers, labels, and distributors, while also identifying how these systems, can have an impact on the diversity of cultural expressions more generally. Building upon secondary research and interviews conducted with a variety of industry experts, it sheds light on existing initiatives which serve to improve diversity in the sector, summarise the main trends observed, and offers perspectives to ensure that the industry not only operates in a sustainable manner, but that it is ultimately representative of all those who desire to participate in it. 

The cultural and creative sectors were among the hardest hit by the pandemic, with over 10 million jobs lost in 2020 alone. Public investment in culture has been declining over the last decade and creative professions remain overall unstable and underregulated. Although culture and entertainment are major employers of women (48.1%), gender equality is a distant prospect. Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity – Addressing culture as a global public good offers insightful new data that shed light on emerging trends at a global level, as well as putting forward policy recommendations to foster creative ecosystems that contribute to a sustainable world by 2030 and beyond.

This book describes the forms of copyright-based transactions and contractual practices that together form what could loosely be described as an international standard. It can be observed in countries where film and audiovisual production industries have reached a certain level of maturity in terms of legal, financing and distribution infrastructures. Some countries where such industries are still emergent face challenges in delivering a supportive infrastructure for creators, producers, performers and other right holders to access the national copyright framework and ensure they are appropriately protected and incentivized by it. Experience also shows that – over a certain budget level – no matter where a producer lives and works, they will need to reach out to the international community of film financiers and distributors, and so become familiar with the global market for film rights and the legal standard required to establish the necessary copyright documentation.

This profile aims to analyse the wealth of data on the media and culture sector (MCS) and its sub-sectors, using as a starting point economic activities rather than occupational profiles. While this provides an opportunity to highlight the overall employment contribution of the sector (i.e. through its artists, professionals, technicians, and non-talent-based workers), it may not fully highlight the significant differences in working hours, contractual arrangements and employment status that exist among the various occupational profiles that characterize this diverse and vibrant sector. 

Cultural and creative sectors and industries are a significant source of jobs and income. They are a driver of innovation and creative skills, within cultural sectors and beyond. They also have significant social impacts, from supporting health and well-being, to promoting social inclusion and local social capital. As national and local governments reconsider growth models in the wake of COVID-19, cultural and creative sectors can be a tool for a resilient recovery if certain longer-term challenges in the sector are addressed. The report outlines international trends with new data, including at subnational scale. It addresses issues in cultural and creative sectors in terms of employment, business development, cultural participation and funding, both public and private. It provides analysis of how these sectors contribute to economic growth and inclusion, taking into account the impact of COVID-19 related crisis on jobs and firms. Finally, it offers recommendations on how to capitalise on the role of cultural and creative sectors in national and local recovery strategies.

 This report has been commissioned by the World Intellectual Property Organization, with the objective of presenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cultural and creative industries, education and research, identifying their initiatives and challenges in facing the pandemic, and consequently, the main trends and trajectories that emerged.

The Freemuse State of Artistic Freedom Report 2022 shows the extent of attacks on artists and creative freedom in 2021 in numbers and infographics that illustrate the stark reality of the struggle for this right. They show the numbers of artists reported killed, imprisoned, brought to trial, attacked, and subjected to other forms of persecution. There is also a breakdown by region and by sector – music, film, and other art forms. 

Can digital technologies enable new tourist experiences? How can tourist destinations and nation brands be constructed and promoted in the light of cultural industries and digital technologies? How can a territory and its brand be managed through digital technologies in the current context? How is tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean facing the challenge of economic recovery? The questions above—central to this publication—echo the report Vision 2025, Reinvest in the Americas: A Decade of Opportunity, of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which states that in the years to come, in order for the region to gain economic recovery, it will be necessary to invest in digitization and the rapid adoption of new technologies, while encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship as well as supporting SMEs.

The World Cities Culture Report 2022 is a unique research project, building on the ground-breaking 2015 and 2018 Reports and created with 40 partner cities, across six continents, over two years. Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis, we gathered leaders working  in the urban realm to discuss the biggest challenges and opportunities facing our cities. Over eight months, we invited every city in the World Cities Culture Forum network to nominate leaders to speak with us about the specific challenges of their city, how they were meeting the needs of their communities and what more was needed. We interviewed 40 City Leaders – from artists to Youth Council members, cultural advisors to museum directors, community leaders to 24 hour Commissioners. We then worked with our partner cities to gather their case studies,  profiles and over 70 data indicators. Where possible, we looked at 2019  and 2021 data sets to help us build a picture of the short-term impacts  of Covid-19, as well as the wider story of culture in our cities.

This Knowledge Brief highlights examples of music enterprises in Africa and the types of opportunities they offer for youth in the broad music ecosystem.  The Brief also suggests some strategies for translating music into economic and social benefits: 1) Access to finance to support music enterprises, 2) Targeted music-friendly policies, 3) Support for networks and enabling infrastructure, 4) Enhanced participation of women and artists from marginalized communities, and 5) Human capital development through skills, training, and innovation.

The work of Europe's creative industry professionals is not only relevant from an economic perspective. It is also important for the promotion of Europe’s diverse cultural identity and European values including equality, democracy and sustainable development. The creative industries and culture also have the power to facilitate transformations of institutions, communities and cities. This sectoral watch describes the industrial context of the sector, technological trends, venture capital investments and startup creation, the supply and demand of related skills and a future outlook with challenges and opportunities.

This publication, Backstage: Managing Creativity and the Arts in SouthEast Asia, draws on the findings of UNESCO’s recent study of the creative sector in the nine countries of the South-East Asian region (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam), which involved a quantitative survey, in-depth interviews and policy analysis. The publication showcases the policy environments in which the creative sector is operating, points out the similarities and differences across the countries of the region, and concretely identifies areas in which exchanges (sharing and learning from each other) and further development can be engineered to unleash the full potential of the sector.

This study assesses the present state of the audiovisual sector in Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of increased demand resulting from the growth of streaming and national industries in the region. The document includes an assessment of audiovisual milestones while centering on current public policy debates and 21st-Century skills. After interviewing and conversing with nearly 100 emerging creators, producers, entertainment executives, government officials, and film association professionals, the research provides an overview of the main challenges and opportunities faced throughout the continent. The research includes a survey of 417 producers aimed at understanding the need for below-the-line (technical) skills in LAC.

Through their contribution to urban regeneration and sustainable urban development, cultural and creative industries make cities more attractive places for people to live in and for economic activity to develop. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the cultural sector, yet it has also revealed the power of cultural and creative industries as a resource for city recovery and resilience. ‘Cities, Culture, and Creativity’ (CCC) provides guiding principles and a CCC Framework, developed by UNESCO and the World Bank, to support cities in unlocking the power of cultural and creative industries for sustainable urban development, city competitiveness, and social inclusion. Drawing from global studies and the experiences of nine diverse cities from across the world, the CCC Framework offers concrete guidance for the range of actors  to harness culture and creativity with a view to boosting their local creative economies and building resilient, inclusive, and dynamic cities.

Workers in the cultural and creative sector (CCS) are involved in a wide range of jobs and activities including advertising, gaming, newspapers and magazines, motion picture production, sound recording and music production, as well as live performance and radio/TV broadcasting. In 2015, UNESCO estimated that the cultural and creative sector worldwide generated US$2,250 billion in revenues. According to 2019 ILO estimates, there were nearly 180 million people employed in the arts, recreation and entertainment, representing 5.4 per cent share of global employment. Among these, over 28 million were young people.

Before the pandemic, the creative economy was growing rapidly and generating new jobs in every region of the world, predicted to account up to 10 per cent of global GDP by 2030. The crisis has brought this exceptional growth to a standstill, exposing the fragility of a sector dominated by micro-businesses, informal work practices and few tangible assets. Lockdowns have also highlighted the importance of cultural and creative activity in maintaining individual well-being and community resilience. Our contention is not that the creative economy needs public subsidies to resume its previous growth. It does however require governments and multilateral organisations to recognise and address constraints and regulatory structures that have failed to keep pace with the rapid evolution of the sector. Another priority is to rebalance the glaring asymmetry between the growing power of transnational digital platforms and those who have created much of the content on which their prosperity rests.