This module explores the complex way that cultural industries function, examining a series of dynamics that help us understand how media texts take the form they do. Specifically, it asks how modes of cultural production have changed in different contexts and periods. What role does advertising play in the life and design of film and TV products? How does market research shape the products that are made and the kinds of audience that are catered for? How do technological or legislative developments influence the way that products of the cultural industries are produced, distributed and consumed?