The Scottish Government has set up a Creative Industries Advisory Group to advise ministers on the support the sector needs.
Invitations to become members of the group have been sent to industry leaders in fields including architecture, visual arts, craft-making, music, fashion and textiles, performing arts and film production.
The final membership list will be announced in the coming weeks, and the first meeting is expected to take place in the first few months of 2017.
The Scottish annual business statistics defined the creative industries as:
- Advertising
- Architecture
- Arts
- Crafts and Antiques
- Computer Games
- Design
- Fashion and Textiles
- Film and Video
- Music
- Performing Arts
- Writing and Publishing
- Photography
- TV and Radio
- Software and Electronic Publishing
- Museums and Galleries
- Cultural Education
In 2015, the creative industries employed 73,600 people in Scotland and new figures this year showed the creative industries comprised 15,420 registered enterprises.
The GVA (gross value added) of the creative industries was £3.7 billion in 2014, up from £2.7 billion in 2010.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop will chair the advisory group, which will meet twice a year.
Hyslop said: “Scotland is renowned for its world leading expertise in creativity and innovative design.
“The Scottish Government is committed to developing this ingenuity and nurturing the creative industries for generations to come.
“This advisory group will support more collaborative working by enabling the diverse range of business and entrepreneurs across the creative industries to engage with each other and with Government to discuss and advise on high-level issues of relevance to the whole sector.
“I want to hear directly about the successes, issues and priorities the sector is experiencing so we can collectively take a strategic view on how the Scottish Government and its public agencies can further support the creative industries sector as a whole.”