Local clusters in creative industries: an empirical investigation of the music industry supply chain in Italy

Starting from the study of enterprises clusters in the economic literature, in the law and in empirical studies, the paper analyzes the spatial concentration of firms in the Italian music industry supply chain using two different samples. Results show a strong spatial concentration of firms and revenues for every kind of firms considered in the Lombardy Region, and in particular, in the city of Milan. Milan can be considered the Italian capital of music and, especially, according to total sales, Milan is the capital of Italian music publishing, radio broadcasting, recording studios and discography. The formal recognition by the public institutions could be in the form of a “productive district”, to which law gives tax breaks and facilitations. Finally, the paper suggests some reflections about the methodology used to recognize enterprises clusters in creative industries and about the opportunity to give more value to cultural and creative industries by using public policies, giving also some insights on the reasons of the concentration detected and directions for future research.