Media Questions from handout:

1: What is Chris Anderson's theory of 'the long tail?'


Chris Anderson published his theory and described the theory of 'the long tail' as a way in which the internet has transformed economics, commerce and consumption. Anderson's idea summed up in very convincing terms what has been happening over the last few years, that is, since broadband became available to consumers. Whereas in the pre-broadband era, companies and distributors were interested in blockbuster hits and best-selling products, however now there is a realisation that by adding up all of the niche consumption might amount to as much revenue as the units sold of the material. In other words, if you think about in spatial terms, on a graph, there is a longer flatter, low end of the market -  which can also be known as the 'long tail.'

Anderson explains the theory of the 'long tail' in his own words:

"The theory of the 'long tail' can be boiled down to this, our culture and economy are increasingly shifting away from a focus on relatively small number of hits (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve, and moving toward a huge number of niches in the tail. In an era without constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as the mainstream fare."


Additionally, the internet is bringing renewed life to millions of less well known books, albums and movies by having unlimited shelf space together with clever filtering, it has given raise to the 'long tail' of retailing according to Chris Anderson.

2. What does the theory of ‘the long tail’ mean for the music industry and to other areas of the media such as online television?


The theory of the 'long tail' raises some issues within certain areas of the media. The first issue which arises from this is that the more things you make available, the more people will explore the non-hits. The repercussion of this however, is that the sales of the most popular items can suffer. If 100 things are available, those 100 things will enjoy sales success. If a million things are available for sale, the 100 most popular things will still enjoy sales success. Nonetheless, a large proportion of the people will explore rather than consuming the hits, this creates a loss within the industry in general.

Yet, this may not neccessarily be seen as a bad thing due to the fact that as more things are made available online, the more the public will consume altogether. For instance, 'Amazon' sells more books than any other bookstore due to the idea that the site sells a larger amount of books than any other website.

The third and probably the most important aspect of the 'long tail' is that it provides not only greater potential for mass market retailers moving online by reducing the problem of shelf space but it is also a route to market for a wide range of niche products which may not have been made available by more traditional means.


All in all, the fact is that economics are transferred online. An online music retailer will never sell out of a record. They will never have to stop stocking an item in order to stock another. There is no reason for labels to delete catalogue and every reason to reissue everything. And the more easily searchable you make it, the more you will benefit at the business end.

3. What is Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams’ theory of Wikinomics?

Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams' explains how the theory of 'Wikinomics' a term which he invented himself referring to the theory and practice of harnassing mass collaborations. Wiki is a software which enables a number of people to co-edit the document on the internet and the first big implementation of a 'wiki' is of course 'Wikipedia,' which is an encyclopedia thats larger than Britanica and it's owned by nobody so it's constantly up to date and is also written in dozen of languages and it's developed by the many but it's as good as the one developed by the noble prize winner's quality. So 'Wiki' has now become a metaphor for something much bigger where large numbers of people because of the internet come together and collaborate to produce things and goods and services in society and if you can create an encyclopedia in that way with the issues on the table what else can you create and it turns out you can create about anything.

4. What are the five big ideas of Wikinomics and how might these ideas be applied to the music industry?

The five big ideas of Wikinomics which can be applied to the music industry consist of:

- Peering, which refers to the idea that products can be shared amongst peers. For example, sites such as Spotify and Facebook encourage sharing music with peers and are designed to be shared with several people creating a continuous chain of peer recommendation.

- Free creativity is a positive outcome of the free market. It is difficult to control the creativity of the web. However, a service called Creative Commons provides protection at the same time allowing people to remix material within limits.

- Due to peering, 'We Media' journalism and creativity, exemplifies how the media has become more democratic.

- The idea of thinking globally and embracing the globalization, ignoring all possible boundaries.