circus and puppetry; they are usually presented for cultural, educational, entertainment and business purposes. The sector includes everything from solo performances by individual artists to large-scale theatrical productions by commercial, non-profit or hybrid organizations.
International trade in creative goods and ser vices: Global trends and features
5
The world market for performing arts generates an estimated $40 billion in box office revenues.8 The largest markets are the United States, the United Kingdom and France. In this report it is not possible to provide a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of performing arts, owing to the lack of data for the commercial flows of performing services in domestic and global markets. Income from performing arts derives from box-office revenues, national and international touring, performance royalties and taxation, for which data are seldom collected or reported nationally; consequently, it is impossible to conduct a global comparative analysis. Performing arts are a special case, since their products are expressed as an intangible or immaterial service, unlike other creative industries where figures for tangible goods (such as a piece of sculpture in the case of visual arts) serve as the basis for a quantitative analysis. In developing countries, few countries collect national data on cultural performances and activities as part of the reporting for their satellite account for culture. Performing arts generally reside within the non-profit sector, which relies heavily on subsidization of activities and operations. In most developed countries, the performing arts benefit from government grants or subsidies and funding from foundations, other non-profit organizations and corporations. For instance, the European Parliament allocated €1.5 million in 2007 for a project to facilitate the mobility of EU artists, following the European Year on Workers’ Mobility in 2006.9 Europe is increasingly producing regulations regarding the live performance sector. At the same time, performing arts organizations are focusing on their own concerns and challenges, in particular the financing of their artistic missions, extension of copyright term for performers and recordings, employment and social security as well as taxation.10 In developing countries, despite the high degree of artistic excellence and the activism of several professional organizations, the situation is completely different. When such funds exist they are very limited. Income for the per8 9 10 11 12
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PricewaterhouseCoopers (2005). European Commission (2007). Performing Arts Employers Associations League Europe (2008). Nurse et al. (2007). Issues relating to WTO multilateral negotiations are further elaborated in chapter 9.
C R E AT I V E E C O N O M Y R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
forming arts sector is generated primarily through earned income since few mechanisms exist to fund operating or programming expenses through corporate, foundation or government grants or subsidies.11 Therefore the focus in the case of the performing arts is on the artist as the provider of performing services, and there are critical issues relating to labour-market conditions and mobility that need to be addressed at both the national and international levels. The employment conditions of artists are often precarious. Artists’ contractual obligations usually are projectbased, and periods of unemployment between engagements are a normal feature of their working lives. Most performing artists work on an irregular, part-time or self-employed basis, with limited coverage for medical and pension schemes, particularly in developing countries. This is an area requiring public policies at the national level. The ILO, in collaboration with UNESCO and other international organizations, is developing an international framework of all occupational categories of the cultural sector. The aim is to assist governments to have the necessary information about the labour aspects of their creative industries as a tool to facilitate policy formulation for improving employment conditions and job creation in the sector. Internationally, the mobility of artists is an issue under negotiations at the WTO Doha Round in the context of the GATS agreement for liberalization of trade in services. Issues related to the “free movement of natural persons” and the policy debate about the four modes of supplying services are particularly relevant for artists, performers, choreographers, musicians, etc. (see chapter 9). The international community should find and agree upon solutions to provide opportunities to enable those working in performing arts to have greater access to international markets so that they will be able to offer and export their creative and cultural services worldwide.12 International touring of performing artists and groups has a dual role. From the cultural perspective, it helps to promote cultural exchange and cultural diversity. Economically, it not only generates revenue for the performers, which translates into foreign earnings for their countries, but it also induces positive spin-offs and financial benefits for the hosting cities. Thanks to the wider policy debate about the importance of the creative economy in revitalizing