Culture and commerce

the long version

Art and business are often described as worlds apart, even diametric opposites. And yet, these realms are close cousins in creative industries where firms bring cultural goods to market, attaching price tags to music, paintings, theater, literature, film, and fashion. Building on theories of value construction and cultural production, Culture and Commerce details the processes by which artistic worth is decoded, translated, and converted to economic value. Case studies of firms from Chanel and Penguin to tastemakers like the Sundance Institute and the Pritzker Prize illuminate how creative entrepreneurs influence our sense of value, shifting consumer behavior and our culture in deep, surprising ways.