Defining Entertainment: The Value of Industry Perspectives

• In Event: Valuing Entertainment

Abstract

The term ‘entertainment’ is used and accepted globally at both industrial and cultural levels. A thing called entertainment exists. And yet there is no clear consensus about the definition of the term. Academics have debated the meaning of the term at length, probing the definitional differences between ‘entertainment’, ‘popular culture’, and ‘mass culture’. This paper suggests an approach to understanding entertainment by mapping a different, significant, key area in which the term is used, and providing an overview of its meanings in that context. In doing so, it answers what at first seems like a simple question: what is ‘entertainment’? This paper focuses on how entertainment is defined by entertainment industry professionals and organisations, drawing on industry publications and on interviews with industry professionals. In determining the industry definition of entertainment, this paper will contribute to an understanding of the broader meaning of the often-contested academic term.

Christy Collis is an Associate Professor, and Head of Entertainment Industries at QUT. She is co-editor of the forthcoming book series Palgrave Entertainment Industries.

Stephen Harrington is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Communication at QUT. He is the vice-chair of the International Communication Association’s Popular Communication division, and co-editor of the forthcoming book series Palgrave Entertainment Industries.

Authors

• Christy Collis, Queensland U of Technology

• Stephen Harrington, Queensland U of Technology