Work in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industries

“This is a clarifying, comprehensive study of work, power, and social relations in the digital media and entertainment industries. By critically situating topics such as AI, race and gender, meritocracy, influencers, and creativity in dynamics of capitalism, Mirrlees empowers us to understand why work is experienced as such, and how we can change it. Essential reading for anyone aspiring to work in media and culture, and those of us who teach them.” - Nicole Cohen, co-founder of Cultural Workers Organize, author of Writers Rights: Freelance Journalists in a Digital Age and co-author of New Media Unions: Organizing Digital Journalists

“I want to create a new course just so I have a good excuse to teach Mirrlees’s new book. No one distills knowledge better. Plus, Mirrlees offers an exhaustive and incomparable taxonomical literature review in work and labor in the media and creative industries.” - David Craig, co-author of Creator Culture: An Introduction to Global Social Media Entertainment and co-editor of Social Media Entertainment: The New Intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley

“Mirrlees reminds us that human labour – with its struggles, desires and pitfalls – is the engine behind our culture, no matter how far the industry pushes commodification and automation. This book is indispensable theoretical and political grounding for the study of the present and future of digital media.” - Alessandro Delfanti, author of The Warehouse: Workers and Robots at Amazon and co-author of Introduction to Digital Media

"For too long, work and class have been rendered invisible in media and communication studies. Mirrlees’s Work in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industries demonstrates the relevance and urgency of addressing work issues in these industries. This book is a must-read for all undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and policy makers who want to understand the different dimensions of work, which are even more relevant in digital media contexts. Mirrlees assesses key concepts from cyber-tariat to management, engages with hot topics such as virtual influencers and generative AI, and shares a generous and up-to-date list of references. The book also discusses how workers have built collectives, such as unions and cooperatives, in the media industries, demonstrating how the future of work may be different." - Rafael Grohmann, leader of DigiLabour Initiative and founding editor of Platforms & Society journal

“Mirrlees has accomplished an extraordinary feat that brings together cutting-edge theoretical work, with the study of law, policy, informatics, work and labour market restructuring. This path-breaking book will be of interest to researchers, students, labour and community organizers interested in the rapidly changing world of digital media and entertainment industries. Scholarly, yet accessible, this book makes a compelling case for more democratic and just control over the technologies that influence so much of our lives inside and outside of work. If you are interested in building worker power from a class perspective, pick up this book today!” - Carlo Fanelli, Director of the Global Labour Research Centre, editor-in-chief of Alternate Routes, co-editor of Reading Capital Today, and co-author of From Consent to Coercion: The Continuing Assault Against Labour

“Mirrlees’ Work in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industries is a timely overview of an increasingly important and growing area. This interdisciplinary volume will provide scholars, teachers and students with a solid understanding of the multi-faceted concept of ‘work’ in our rapidly changing world.” - Janet Wasko, author of Understanding Disney, co-editor of The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications and Global Media Giants, and former President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)

“Mirrlees has provided entertainment and technology studies with a definitive guide on labor in the twenty-first century media industries. Mirrlees charts key changes, conversations, and issues faced by independent YouTubers and influencers, all the way up to massive media conglomerates. Far from leaving these disparate, Mirrlees shows how what happens in executive boardrooms impacts the most precarious laborers, inviting readers to understand the nuances of power in contemporary creative work. Accessible and well-written, this is a useful text for seasoned researchers and undergraduate students alike.” - Jessica Maddox, author of The Internet is for Cats: How Animal Images Shape Our Digital Lives

“Moving beyond outdated notions of '9 to 5' employment, Mirrlees’s Work in the Digital Media and Entertainment Industries explores how media work now spans a spectrum of waged, gigified, and unwaged labor relations, helping students engage with these realities from critical theoretical perspectives. Through case studies, research overviews, and personal reflections, readers learn to identify workplace challenges, from algorithmic management to creative control, and explore possible solutions through collective action and policy change. Perfect for courses that aim to prepare students for the actual conditions they’ll face in their media careers.” - Matthew Crain, author of Profit Over Privacy: How Surveillance Advertising Conquered the Internet