Oxfordshire’s creative industries make a substantial contribution to the county’s quality of life, and the distinctiveness of places, as well as playing a substantive economic role. There are over 3,000 creative sector businesses in Oxfordshire, generating over £1.4bn annually not counting the cultural role of the universities and the worldwide turnover of the county’s multinational publishers. Oxford is recognized as one of the UK’s top 10 ‘hot-spots’ for creative industries (NESTA, 2012) in the UK and has the UK's largest centre of publishing outside London, and significant strengths in gaming, television, film, music and sound.

Oxfordshire businesses hooked into the digital economy are attracted by the presence of two universities’ research activity, a high performance technical infrastructure, access to knowledge, and a continuous supply of highly talented and qualified people. Oxford will soon become one of only 12 super connected broadband cities in the UK, strengthening the development of the emerging creative hub.

Publishing and Internet

The historic city of Oxford is world famous as a seat of learning as well as one of the most important media centres in Europe, home to many global publishing companies including the Oxford University Press, which is the second-oldest, founded in 1586. Other Oxfordshire publishing companies include Elsevier, Pearson Education, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley-Blackwell. A large number of independent publishing organisations are also based in Oxford, including the How to Books, Infinite Ideas, Osprey Publishing, Oxfam Publishing, and the Voltaire Foundation. Nominet, the third largest domain name registry (.uk, .wales etc.) is also based here.

One of the oldest libraries in Europe - the Bodleian - still has an agreement under which a copy of every book published in England is deposited free of charge.

World famous authors have created whole worlds in Oxford: from JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth to C.S. Lewis' Narnia, and from Lewis Carroll's Wonderland to, more recently, Philip Pullman's parallel universes.

Gaming

Mobile games are the driver of innovation in the smart phone industry and the most successful category in the apps economy. Oxfordshire’s innovative digital companies include NaturalMotion, a University of Oxford spin-out, and leader in game technology who were recently acquired by Zynga for US$527m. They create and publish high quality free-to-play games and their technological tools are world-renowned. Games developed include Clumsy Ninja, and CSR Racing. Clumsy Ninja picked up the Best Technical Achievement award at the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) Awards 2014.

Red Redemption is a serious game developer, based in Oxford. They have produced two global warming games: Climate Challenge and Fate of the World. Lightning Fish Games is a video game developer specialising in family-oriented titles based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. They develop games for Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Windows and smart phones.

Rebellion is an Oxford-based computer games super-developer that was established in 1992. Hit games include Sniper Elite, Sniper Elite V2, Aliens vs. Predator, Rogue Trooper, and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. They also have a comic and publishing arm.

Television and Film

Oxfordshire has always been a popular film and TV location, and is instantly identifiable. An increasing number of companies and freelance production talent are growing the creative sector. It is well-served by a growing production facilities industry, such as Audiomotion Studios, Europe’s largest motion capture studio who delivered a swarm of zombies for the film World War Z. High-tech manufacturer Vicon, the leading developer of motion capture products and services for the Life Science, Entertainment, and Engineering industries, started out as a management buy-out from the Oxford Instruments Group in 1984. Their T-Series motion capture cameras were used on the Oscar winning Gravity. Novel Entertainment specialises in the creation and development of successful children's character brands across a wide array of media - they are the producers of Horrid Henry and the Fimbles.

From a broadcast perspective, Unreported World, Quite Interesting Ltd, and CNN MainSail are all produced by Oxfordshire based companies. High end corporate production houses include the sports and entertainment specialists Indigo Dingo Ltd and Juice Moving Images, to smaller boutique operations like Angel Sharp Media. Post-production houses such as The Hall boast facilities on a par with Soho.

Music and Sound

Oxford’s vibrant and eclectic music scene includes some of the country’s top bands, such as Radiohead and Foals, and world-leading choirs, as well as the producers, engineers, and technologists whose techniques and equipment sit behind the stage or the other side of the glass.

Solid State Logic, are the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for film, audio, video and broadcast professionals. We7, pioneers of online music were bought by Tesco for £10.8m and renamed Blinkbox Music. Oxford Digital is an established centre of excellence in audio processing, with particular expertise being in audio processor and programming environment design.

Talent and Networks

The fusion of creativity and technology led to the development of the Oxford Technology, Media & Finance Network which builds connections between entrepreneurial managers. Their network objectives include: stimulating a debate and business thinking on key topics and markets; helping members build a local network for support, personal development and mentoring on an individual basis; and, help local start-ups and businesses find the people, connections and resources they need to flourish.

The Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies at Oxford Brookes University is one of the leading institutes for publishing education. Students study for both the BA and MA in Publishing. Ranked first in the 2013 Sunday Times University Guide league table, publishing at Oxford Brookes is the market leader. Training and consultancy work is carried out alongside industry research, and a knowledge transfer partnership is in operation with Blackwell Retail. In addition, OPuS, the Oxford Publishing Society has over 2,000 members.

The Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment at Oxford Brookes University has an international reputation for innovation. The faculty is home to six schools which include the School of Arts with programmes in Music, Publishing and Film Studies and has a reputation for equipping students who are hugely valuable to industry.

Oxford Publishing and Digital Media (OPDM) brings together expertise from the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies and the Digital Media and Technology Group at Oxford Brookes University.

The School of Audio and Engineering (SAE) deliver creative media courses in Sound/Audio Engineering, Music Production, Digital Filmmaking, Web Development, 3D/Interactive Animation and Games Programming. Their global HQ is in Oxford.

The Oxford Internet Institute established the Oxford Digital Economy Collaboration (ODEC) Group, an initiative in support of developments in the Digital Economy in the UK. The group assists businesses, public sector organisations, innovators and research groups working in the digital, internet, and creative industries, to foster collaborations supported by the Connected Digital Economy Catapult (CDEC).

Also read more on the 2015 Tech City UK which puts Oxford on the nation's digital map.