An undisputed classic, the Fourth Edition of this bestselling media studies text offers an unparalleled analysis of the cultural industries.

Bringing together a huge range of research, theory and key concepts, David Hesmondhalgh provides an accessible yet critical exploration of cultural production and consumption in the global media landscape. This new edition: Analyses the influence of IT and tech companies like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook on the cultural industries.Discusses the impact of digital technologies on industries such as music, TV, newspapers, books and digital games.Explores the effects of digitalisation on culture, discussing critical issues like participation, power, commercialism, surveillance, and labour.Examines the changing conceptions of audiences, and the increasing influence of market research, audience tracking and advertising. As one of the most read, most studied and most cited books in the field, this Fourth Edition is an essential resource for students and researchers of media and communication studies, the cultural and creative industries, cultural studies and the sociology of the media.

David Hesmondhalgh is Professor of Media, Music and Culture in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds. He is the author of The Cultural Industries (SAGE, 2019); Culture, Economy and Politics: The Case of New Labour (Palgrave, 2015, co-written with Kate Oakley, David Lee and Melissa Nisbett); Why Music Matters (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013); and Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries (Routledge, 2011, co-written with Sarah Baker). He is also editor or co-editor of eight other books or special journal issues on media, music and culture, including a special issue of Popular Communication (co-edited with Anamik Saha) on Race and Cultural Production; The Media and Social Theory (Routledge, co-edited with Jason Toynbee, 2008) and Media and Society, 6th edition (Bloomsbury, co-edited with James Curran, 2019). He was born and raised in Accrington, Lancashire, did his first degree in English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, and received his PhD from Goldsmiths University of London in 1996. He lives in Yorkshire with his partner, the philosopher Helen Steward, and they have two adult children, Rosa and Joe.