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Arts

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Young, is right. So are my noble friends Lord Bragg and Lord Smith. The arts make a contribution to the economy as well as to society. My noble friend Lord Bragg gave us some numbers. However, the creative industries face new challenges in that area—challenges that arise from some new developments. Those challenges arise under two headings: technology and globalisation. I say technology because, in recent years, technology has changed the way that we experience the arts. For example, we now watch films away from the cinema. As well as watching films at home by downloading them to our television or computer displays, we watch them in flight on aircraft and anywhere else we like using iPods and DVDs. Indeed, those alternative venues now account for about 85 per cent of studios’ worldwide revenues. But there is more. Films and TV programmes have become interactive. We can see or hear commentaries and interrupt the programmes with games linked to various scenes. Much the same has happened to the music industry—both popular and classical music—about which other noble Lords have spoken. The BBC—surely one of our greatest arts institutions, as my noble friend Lord Bragg said—now broadcasts on content platforms instead of old-fashioned plain transmission. That is changing not just the economics of the arts but how society engages with the arts. Some in the arts fight that. They are wrong. Unless the arts take control and embrace technological change, technology will take over from creativity as the driving force. We cannot afford to lose that creativity. My second challenge for the arts and our economy is globalisation. Our response to globalisation is to move up the value chain. The arts—especially design—have a crucial role to play in that because it is often design that adds an extra dimension to any product or service. As you move up in value, the demands of the customer change. Products and services have more closely to match the purpose and personality of the user. There has to be purpose in the visual communication that goes with the product or service. The international market for such products and services is growing fast. So, as some jobs go to low-wage countries, they are replaced by the growing need for innovative talent and skills as we move up the value chain. However, we are not alone in wanting to do that; it is the ambition of every developed country and many emerging economies to do that. We must be more robust in claiming our place. How do we do that? The NESTA report last month spoke about how companies must use traditional management skills to run their creative businesses better—to better manage the risks, which the noble Lord, Lord Lloyd-Webber, mentioned. Companies have to grow in size so that they can better face international competition. Creative businesses must be aware that successful companies promote creativity in all parts of their organisation, not just in the design department. Successful companies collaborate through effective networks, not only with other creative firms but with colleges, artists and designers all over the world. Design is one aspect of globalisation that need not cause us unease. Creative companies should use it. What can the Government do? First, ensure free and fair competition. Surely in a sector of our economy where design and innovation are the main factors of competitiveness, there should be no barriers to new firms bringing their talents into the market and no way in which firms that have run out of ideas can hold on. In addition, there is an important role for the Government in education and skills training to nurture the talent that we need. Also, by maintaining the lively cultural environment through their support for the arts, about which many noble Lords have spoken, the Government can encourage the creative economy. My noble friend Lady McIntosh is right. It is difficult to measure the impact of the arts on our economy through creativity and design, but I understand that the Department for Trade and Industry and the Treasury are working on that. Meanwhile, our role is surely to insist that there is a place for the arts both in the economy and in society.