the long tail: response

The Long Tail makes some interesting points about the effect that some companies like YouTube and Amazon and the internet in general have on the media industry. In his article Chris Anderson asserts that because books, cds and DVDs no longer have to take up physical shelf space they can be profitable even if they only sell one unit. This may be true for those companies, however I still believe that the artists and production companies cannot be profitable from the fringes of popularity.

It does make the market more dynamic to have more available titles. This means there’s also more competition, but with the more obscure titles now on the market it can be more likely for an artist to find their niche audience and gather a fan base. When you could only get an album from the record store the market was only hit-based, and so only artists whom the popular record labels thought would have a broad appeal would make it to the shelves.

The main flaw I find in this article is that even though the long tail of obscure titles combined might be as profitable as the hits, the only way for an artist to make any legitimate compensation is to strive not be part of the tail.