A Study on the Structure Change of the Magic Industry

「魔術」雖是當今眾所皆知的娛樂表演藝術，但在數千年前最早與魔術有關的文獻記載出現時，其所扮演的角色及功能是十分神秘而嚴肅甚且充滿了宗教性，和現在的樣貌截然不同。這意味著或許其產業結構在這段長遠的時間中，經歷了許多變化。現今早已脫離了宗教色彩的魔術屬於「創意產業」(Creative Industries)的一部分，但不同於一般的創意產業，魔術長久以來的價值都架構在「秘密」上，其性質與產業結構能否和創意產業的性質相呼應則十分耐人尋味。本研究旨在藉由魔術產業的發展歷史軌跡，探討其產業結構變遷、其變遷背後之原因，並就現今魔術產業做分析以推導出其產業特色，進而比較和一般創意產業相關理論的相符程度。先本研究將魔術產業數千年歷史分成如下四個關鍵性的年代探討以尋找產業結構變遷成因：(1)十七世紀中葉前：超自然與宗教藝術 (2)十七世紀中葉至十九世紀中葉：娛樂表演藝術 (3)十九世紀末期至二十世紀初期：輝煌的劇場年代 (4)二十世紀中葉至今：劇場與電視並行年代。次之，本研究再以Scherer (1990)所提出的S-C-P架構針對現今的美國魔術產業作分析，進而和創意產業相關理論作比較。據研究結果顯示，魔術產業過去數千年來的關鍵性結構變遷都和「魔術秘密及相關知識」的變化有關：當這些秘密與知識越容易被獲得，競爭就越激烈，產業結構也因業內廠商的策略行為而改變。此外，魔術產業和創意產業理論最大的不同處在於，一般創意產業中的創作人可藉由智慧財產權相關規定保護自身權益，魔術師則否。因此魔術產業內部形成了整合魔術師的團體和網絡社群。進而使得過去改變魔術產業結構的「魔術秘密及相關知識」，再也不是現在的魔術師所競爭的重點了。“Magic” has been an entertainment art for a long time. However, its role and function in the very beginning were very religious. This might implies that the magic industry has experienced some major changes. It would be meaningful to figure out how and why the industry transformed and to investigate the structure characteristics of the magic industry nowadays. Moreover, due to the value of secrets, it would be intriguing to compare those characteristics of the magic industry and the theories about creative industries in which the magic industry belongs to. irst, in an effort to find out how and why the industry evolved, this study investigated the development of the magic industry, by dividing its history into four major ages: (1) Before the middle 17th Century: Supernatural and Religious Art, (2) From the Middle 17th Century to the Middle 19th Century: Entertainment Art, (3) From the Late 19th Century to the Early 20th Century: The Great Vaudeville Era, (4) From the Middle 20th Century to Present: Big Shows and Small Screens. Next, this study investigated the current U.S. magic market with the S-C-P paradigm, proposed by Scherer (1990). By so doing, we could reveal the underlying factors leading toward players’ behavior and hence structural changes.ur research findings indicated that the main factor of the industrial transformation is “the source of the magic knowledge.” The easier the magic knowledge could be accessed, the fiercer competition would be and players’ behaviors responding to the competition would further change the industrial structure as well. Moreover, the magic industry is very dissimilar from other creative industries in terms of IP protection. Given poor IP protection, there came some associated organizations and networks to make magicians cooperative and functions integrated as an alternative for IP protection. Due to this kind of collaboration, the magic secrets, which used to affect the industrial transformation, is not what magicians compete for anymore.ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IHESIS ABSTRACT IIIHINESE ABSTRACT IVHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION 1.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES 2.2.1. Research Questions 2.2.2. Research Objectives 2.3. RESEARCH METHOD 3.4. RESEARCH LIMITATION 5HAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6.1. S-C-P PARADIGM 6.2. THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES 12.2.1. Definition and scope of the creative industries 12.2.2. Characteristics of creative industries 13HAPTER 3 STRUCTURE CHANGE IN DIFFERENT AGES 16.1. BEFORE THE MIDDLE 17TH CENTURY: SUPERNATURAL AND RELIGIOUS ART 17.1.1. Background of the time: religious age 17.1.2. Magicians: communicators with Gods 17.1.3. Magic types: mainly close-up tricks 18.1.4. Source of magic knowledge: family or mentor-apprentice systems 19.1.5. Consumers: religious believers and emperors 19.1.6. Events affecting the industry: witch-hunting 20.2. FROM THE MIDDLE 17TH CENTURY TO THE MIDDLE 19TH CENTURY: ENTERTAINMENT ART 22.2.1. Background of the time: scientific revolution 22.2.2. Star magicians: European magicians dominated 23.2.3. Magic types: from middle-scale tricks to semi-large scale illusions 23.2.4. Source of magic knowledge: scientists and clockmakers 24.2.5. Consumers: the public and the royal families 25.2.6. Events affecting the industry: Decremps’ solution books 25.3. FROM THE LATE 19TH CENTURY TO THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY: THE GREAT VAUDEVILLE ERA 27.3.1. Background of the time: the golden age of magic 27.3.2. Star magicians: from all over the world 28.3.3. Magic types: large-scale illusions 28.3.4. Source of magic knowledge: diverse channels 29.3.5. Consumers: the public in theaters 30.3.6. Events affecting the industry: keen competition 30.4. FROM THE MIDDLE 20TH CENTURY TO PRESENT: BIG SHOWS AND SMALL SCREENS 36.4.1. Background of the time: the dwindled theaters and the rise of TV 36.4.2. Star magicians: American magicians dominated 37.4.3. Magic types: large-scale illusions in theaters and close-up tricks on TV 37.4.4. Source of magic knowledge: multimedia 38.4.5. Consumers: magician rarely travels, but audience comes 38.4.6. Events affecting the industry: public exposure 39.5. FINDINGS FROM THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 40HAPTER 4 INDUSTRIAL ANALYSIS OF THE U.S. MAGIC INDUSTRY 43.1. THE LEADING MARKET: THE U.S. MAGIC MARKET 43.2. THE BASIC CONDITIONS 44.2.1. Supply Factor 44.2.2. Demand Factor 47.2.3. Other Factor: Public Policy 49.3. THE INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE 51.3.1. Degree of Concentration 51.3.2. Vertical Integration 52.3.3. Entry Barrier 54.3.4. Cost Structure 58.3.5. Summary of the industrial structure 59.4. PLAYERS’ STRATEGIC CONDUCT 60.4.1. Pricing Behavior 60.4.2. Product Strategy 61.4.3. Advertising 67.4.4. Research and Innovation 69.4.5. Upholding the enforcement of the magician-only institutions 69.4.6. Summary of the players’ strategic conducts 71HAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 72.1 CONCLUSION 72.1.1. The magic secrets mattered in the history 72.1.2. Exception of the creative industries 73.1.3. Magicians today compete for rather than magic secrets 73.2. FURTHER RESEARCH SUGGESTIONS 74EFERENCE 75PPENDIX-STAR MAGICIANS IN DIFFERENT AGES 7