Innovation and Diversity Does Innovation threaten the Cultural Sectors?

Diversity’s benefits (Stirling, 1998) Hedging Against Ignorance Mitigating Lock-In Accomodating Plural Perspectives Fostering Innovation

Cultural concerns about innovation Innovation leads to new cultural occupations… – …at the expense of the existing ones? – …which kind of occupations? – …towards a homogenization of the cultural world? An homogenization of content? A dumbing down of revenue models? A greater market concentration?

Towards a homogenization of content? Long Tail Vs Superstars - Technologies lead to even more universal presence - A good compromise in view of unlimited choice - Technologies lead to even more universal presence - A good compromise in view of unlimited choice - Technologies allow greater democratization of production of, and access to, contents - More means to discover new content - Technologies allow greater democratization of production of, and access to, contents - More means to discover new content Source: Anderson (2006)

Towards a dumbing down of revenue models? The reign of free? – Large development of unauthorized uses – Importance of funding through advertising Internet particularly well-suited for advertising (targetting audience, interactivity, etc.)

... Or rather a coexistence of revenue models? e.g. Netflix e.g. Hulu e.g. iTunes e.g. BBC iPlayer A whole range of hybrid revenue models – Freemium – Buy one thing, get another free

Towards a greater market concentration? The initial view on total disintermediation… Musician Record producer Record distributor Retail outlet Consumer Musician Consumer ?

Towards a greater market concentration? Facebook MySpace iTunes Amazon Google Musician Consumer Lastfm Universal Live Nation 64% (Eu) 69% (US) > 60% (US) Users Digital Music Sales > 500M E-books Search Engine …instead a new reintermediation…New gatekeepers?... But many gates!

Innovation can allow new and diverse occupations to emerge From physical to attention scarcity => A need for occupations that help finding what one likes or will enjoy discovering Innovation brings challenges and opportunities for diversity – Issues of transition – Issues of existing occupations and industries

Thanks for your attention