Worcester woman and Mondeo Man are long gone.  Politicians of all hues are now focusing their groups on a new category: the “squeezed middle.” Whilst many have already dissected this concept and questioned who exactly it might apply to, it strikes me that the analogy of the squeezed middle could easily be applied to the creative industries.

As George Orwell reminded us, the most important of all political tools is language.  Power lies with those who can frame a debate by defining its terms and then argue on their appointed ground, or who can even ultimately expunge or introduce words into the public vocabulary.  So in any policy conversation it is always necessary not just to listen to what is being said, but how it is being said.  Or as Frank Luntz put it: it’s not what you say that matters, it’s what people hear.

Having previously worked at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the creative industries, and for the video games trade body, UKIE, I don’t need any convincing about the vital role our creative industries play in enriching and enhancing the world we live in, not to mention their huge economic contribution (the latest figures published by DCMS show that the creative industries account for 2.89% of the UK’s GVA in 2009).

"I've seen this happen in other people's lives and now it's happening in mine" as Morrissey once sang.  But is this what the publishing sector feels about the digital marketplace when it looks at the music business?

A new activity can be added to the list of festive traditions of revelry and resolution-setting: responding to copyright consultations.  For the second year running, the creative industries have been handed their holiday homework by the Intellectual Property Office, in the form of a series of policy questions on copyright.  Last year, it was the Hargreaves Review call for evidence, in which he posed the question of how intellectual property could drive growth and innovation. 

Anyone with lingering doubts about the ability of publishing companies to adapt to the digital age would have had their concerns laid to rest at the Futurebook conference, held in Westminster on 5^th December.  A series of speeches from leaders within the sector and presentations from those just joining, demonstrated the breadth and depth of strategic thinking and business model development that is underway. 

“Publishing is a fundamental part of the academic enterprise for the future” and sensible strategies are needed, according to Professor Ian Diamond, V-C of Aberdeen, Chair of the UUK Efficiency Task Group, and keynote speaker at the PA’s annual academic publishing conference on 21^st November.

As the debate around fracking for shale gas in Blackpool reminds us, the consequences of badly managed mining can be severe.  Ok, so the data and text mining of publishers content may not lead to actual earthquakes, but the implications of not managing access would be damaging nonetheless.  The Hargreaves proposal to introduce an exception to copyright to allow content mining would create risks for the economy, whilst not even solving the problems it seeks to address.

Listening to an Ofcom official speak at a Westminster event last week, I was struck by the mountain which rightsholders still have to climb in terms of convincing policy makers that copyright infringement is harmful to our businesses. 

The Conservative party conference in Manchester last week was understandably chirpier than Labour's Liverpool gathering. Although the nagging itch of being in coalition was never far from the surface, the general atmosphere was of the natural order of things being restored.