Assignment #1 (Long Tail): Shopping Just Got Easier

Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine, has been educating the public on the significance of independent produce and reaching niche audience. Not too long ago he wrote and published a book titled “The Long Tail” which was inspired by his Long Tail articles that were posted in his magazine. Long Tail is a phased coined by Anderson in 2004, describing a larger number of unique items that are sold in small quantities to the public. Anderson describes the process distributors must go through in order to get their projects out to the public. As consumers we assume there are not enough movies being made or albums being produced and that’s why we see the same type of movies or here the same kind of songs on the radio. In actuality the problem is there is not enough screen, air time, or shelf space for all these projects. Therefore the distributions are left to decide which project will be placed out there for the public, or in other word which one are they willing to pay the fees for. So as a society we have no say what is being played on the radio, what is selling in the stores, and what we see at the movies….I thought this was a democracy. You see to put your movie in a theater cost….to put your album on the shelf at Best Buy cost…..to put your 30minute show on air cost. That’s where the distributions come in; they decide whether or not your creation is worthy enough to invest in. But due to the lack of shelf space and high prices many creative project may grace the eyes of the public. This is where Long Tail comes in, because there is more projects unseen and unheard digital retailers like Amazon.com, Netflix, iTunes, etc gives the consumers the opportunity to purchase merchandise that was independently produce. Even oldies but goodies can be purchased, items that were considered popular ten or fifteen years ago but are completely forgotten now. Anderson does a great job explaining this process along with the 80/20 rule. Check out his lecture, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yku0GTrcuw&feature=fvw.

Digital distribution is definitely making its way in society. Digital retailers such as Rhapsody, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, etc. has managed to find a loop hole in this economy and not only profit from it, but also satisfy consumers. I must say I enjoy my 80’s music and in the past I experienced some hard times because these major store (like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and then…Media Play) didn’t carry true 80’s artist. Oh sure they had Phil Collins, but only his greatest hits; the songs that had radio play. Mom & Pop shops would carry the tunes but nowadays their becoming extinct due to the major store. Therefore imagine my joy when I was able to find my favorites online. Now I admit I’m not a fan of purchasing merchandise online but I’ll break my rule for the Tears of Fears’ song: Everybody Wants to Rule the World. The rise of the digital retailer is pretty significant in this day and age and retail outlets such as Wal-Mart are now biting the bullet and getting involved in the online retail. Currently Wal-mart offers music online for its consumers. Online they sell albums $3 to $4 cheaper and it supplies a larger inventory of albums, artist, and songs. The same process applies to other forms of merchandise such as DVDs, clothes, books, video games and more. So I must say the merchandise out lets are following the Internet trend and supplying more products to the consumers. However they fail to offer products that are independently produced. In the future, creative merchandise will continue to rise and be independently produced. Soon enough these mega retail outlets will tap in to that field and start selling their goods online. But until then digital retailers have an advantage over the mega retail outlets and their websites. The infinitive shelf space that is offered to consumers is definitely beneficial, especially this day and age. This gives people a freedom to choose from an endless selection as oppose to having only a few things to pick from. However i do believe the mega outlets will find a way to gain control again, even if it is selling independently produced items. Plus distribution companies are going to be facing a challenge as well. Through my research I found a few websites that offer artist the opportunity to sell their merchandise to popular online retailers. For example, TuneCore.com is a digital distribution that allows artist to sell their music and videos to online retailers (Lime wire, AmazonMP3, iTunes, etc.). The artist will get 100% of the money earned from downloads and own all the rights. Freedom is on the rise. Now consumers can support their friends or families music by purchasing their songs or videos on line. http://www.tunecore.com/

My professor said to me the other day "the Internet is know as a tool." A tool that allows people to have freedom and not bound them by big corporations and other gatekeepers. Chris Anderson and others is aware of this gift now it's our turn to embrace this knowledge go forth and prosper. To INFINITY & BEYOOOOND!!!!!!!!!