Interesting, aside from music, I wouldn't overlook fashion, the Vatican, football and Ferrari... do you realize how many people on a global scale, for work, orbit around these "fields"?
The fact that a language is among the most studied in the world makes me think that the nation holds great importance in the global cultural and social landscape. It is not understood why, due to taxes and the economy in general, we are the last. I remain of the opinion, as I have already written in another post, that we should be the Apple of the world. We would need a politician-entrepreneur like Jobs, not these clowns and even less so Berlusconi.