Culture is big business. It is at the root of many urban regeneration schemes throughout the world. It is also one of the leaders of the post-Fordist economic revolution, yet the economy of culture is under-theorized and under-developed.In this wide-ranging and penetrating volume, the economic logic and structure of the modern cultural industries is explained. The connection between cultural production and urban-industrial concentration is demonstrated and the book shows why global cities are the homelands of the modern cultural industries. This book covers many sectors of cultural economy, from craft industries such as clothing and furniture, to modern media industries such as cinema and music recording.The role of the global city as a source of creative and innovative energy is examined in detail, with particular attention paid to Paris and Los Angeles. The book provides an invaluable discussion of the political economy of cultural commodities and of the predicaments associated with the increasing commercialization and globalization of culture. It will be required reading for serious students of sociology, cultural studies and geography.