In his final chapter, Storey discusses "The Politics of Popular." He talks about the impacts of popular culture in a general sense and sums of previous theorists. He also revisits hegemony and ideology. In talking about the economics of culture, Storey explains the importance of "exchange value leading to surplus value (profit)." He points out that while that is the goal, creating value is also important for items to sell.
The gap between creating profit and value has become quite an issue if we consider the current production of movies, tv shows, music, etc. Anything that can be published digitally automatically loses some value. Publishers have changed from letting a person own their purchase (as they would with a physical copy) to licensing the digital version. According to most terms of service agreements, the publisher can revoke usage of the item, regardless of whether the consumer "owns" a copy or not. This lessens the value, making consumers much less likely to buy digital copies.
This becomes more of a problem when we consider the want for digital versions. Digital is much more convenient considering many people watch TV on their computers, tablets, etc. If consumers want the convenience of their shows on their devices, but the purchases have no real value, what are they left to do? Many choose to pirate copies, further reducing the value of those being sold.
Publishers blame the consumers, but who is really at fault? In a capitalist environment, consumers are able to choose what to based on if they value it. If they do not value it enough, they won't buy it. Thus, it is the companies that need to reconsider their practices. Caught up in trying to gain surplus value without increasing actual value has broken the system.
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