The Information Age

This thesis discusses the implications of technological change on the production, distribution and consumption of culture. Arguing that the barriers to entry to these stages of the economic process have been dramatically reduced it makes a case for the democratization of culture. This has been accomplished because – as we find – the expression and recognition of creativity is not solely the domain of the artist but rather a feat accessible to all of mankind. Thus cultural dissemination has completely changed in the information age, giving rise to the long tail. This development is – amongst others - the result of a new institutional landscape where digital platforms are the new intermediaries and the algorithm plays a major role in preference formation. This new cultural landscape is an amalgamation of digital and analogue spaces. As such the possibilities for expressing and valorizing creativity – the way in which we strive to give sense to our lives – has been tremendously increased. Accordingly a new conceptual model for understanding and interpreting these economic and cultural developments – the paradigm we currently live in – is suggested. This method finds its conceptual base in a combination of evolutionary economics and the value-based approach. Important caveat: These findings are the result of an epistemological interpretivistic and ontological constructivist exploration and thus require empirical testing to conform their validity.