The book is essential for understanding the media and creative industries better. Any course and study program in the area can benefit from a reflective appreciation of the subject for which the book offers a sublime comprehensive overview.
I found the book difficult to use. I would not recommend it for this reason. For my purposes it was too difficult to find the relevant sections.
The fourth edition of this classic book certainly provides various essential readings for students of media and communication. I'm particularly interested in the way the book tackles questions around participation, surveillance, power and labour. While, the whole book provides a fascinating and rather comprehensive perspective on the cultural industries, I will only be using sections from this text, as first-year students will only focus on certain aspects of cultural production and consumption.
The Cultural Industries offers a prime basis for a course such as Cultural Studies, with up-to-date chapters on the consequences of the digital networks. It can be both read extensively or used instrumentally thanks to the very complete index.