Digital Technologies and the Changing Business Models in Creative Industries

Abstract

This paper develops a holistic framework to examine the changing business models in creative industries in the digital economy, using evidence gathered from two strands of empirical work. The research found that digital technologies have facilitated pervasive changes in business models in all sectors of the creative industries, but with only a few exceptions, the resultant new business models are often neither novel nor unprecedented. In many cases, digital technologies simply allow organisations to deploy a wider range of business models than previously available to them, often by adapting and applying traditional business models to different ranges or stages of products in the online environment, or simultaneously adopting multiple business models as a portfolio. The paper identifies a series of emerging trends, and highlights three areas for future research.