The platformisation of culture: challenges to cultural policy

ABSTRACT

Platforms are instrumental to cultural production and consumption. This is so in terms of how their affordances and algorithmic logics form, manifest and prioritise cultural products and trends. Platforms are therefore influential in shaping the cultural habits and identity formations of their users. This article explores the repercussions of the platformisation of culture on cultural policy, beginning with an investigation of the characteristics of platforms, pointing to features that are central to cultural policy. This article then suggests a framework for digital cultural politics to widen the scope of cultural policy and to include media- and communication policy, data protection, digital markets and digital services policies within its boundaries. Finally, it demonstrates how regulatory frameworks within the EU affect policymaking at the national level, focusing on recent examples from Denmark, and engages these in a wider discussion on the challenges confronting cultural policy when culture becomes ‘platformised’.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital cultural politics
• digital culture
• platforms
• cultural policy
• platformisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research [8018-00041B].

Notes on contributors

Bjarki Valtysson

Bjarki Valtysson is associate professor at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His research interests include digital cultural politics, digital platforms and cultural institutions.