While the emergent field of creative labour research provides a timely evidence-based reply to the hyperbole of the creative industries policy push, studies have remained speculative as to why so many people would seek careers in the creative sector. This article proposes that to adequately address this question requires a change in the scope of creative labour from 'industries' to 'fields'. It briefly reviews cultural economic descriptions of artists' labour markets, and suggests that Bourdieu's notion of social inertia provides a plausible hypothesis concerning the social trajectories of those who are inclined to make a vocation of the cultural field. The article draws on a recent survey of student demand for university creative writing courses, identifying a cohort whose situation can be interpreted in terms of the social inertia effect. Such an approach shifts the focus of creative labour research from employment to 'vocation', and returns the notion of social status to the centre of explanation. Resituating the object of creative labour studiesThe critical response to creative industries policy making has increasingly branched out from a critique of its ideological roots to include a more empirical focus on the conditions of creative labour. The difference is as much a matter of emphasis as intent, as the emerging field of creative labour research continues to expose the distance between policy rhetoric and the experiences of workers in the cultural industries. For instance, in their discussion of recent UK creative industries policy, Mark Banks and David Hesmondhalgh review a plethora of studies that demonstrate the poor remuneration, (self-)exploitation and insecure work prospects that characterise

The focus on graduate employability for the Creative Industries has tended to overlook the significance of the education sector as a destination. This article makes a case for the educational logic of music careers considered as an example of the developmental agenda embedded in the concept of 'culture'. It further supports this account by looking at longitudinal graduate destination data in both Australia and the UK that shows the importance of the education employment to music careers. It considers music graduate outcomes in both countries according to university tier, graduate level employment, and career satisfaction. It finds that outcomes differ significantly in terms of gender, and that careers in education are no less rewarding than those in music professions. Attention to the 'educational logic of culture' suggests there are opportunities for creative industries policy to better support links between the creative economy and education.

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