Comments on: “The Long Tail” Explained http://www.jason.netrino.com/weblog/2005/12/22/the-long-tail-explained/ This and that on this and that Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:53:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on “The Long Tail” Explained by: Michael Barr http://www.jason.netrino.com/weblog/2005/12/22/the-long-tail-explained/#comment-62 Sun, 25 Dec 2005 12:28:15 +0000 http://www.jason.netrino.com/weblog/2005/12/22/the-long-tail-explained/#comment-62 There's an interesting side issue here, which I have not seen anyone write about. IF the long tail exists in the market for a certain type of good AND the total dollar value of that tail (dollars per specific narrow sliced product x all specifics) is large relative to the total dollar value of the popular goods, THEN when the long tail of the market is served, demand will fall for the popular goods. This assumes, of course, that consumers of that type of good face limits on their total spending in that category. For example, music is said to be a market with a long tail. And if I suddenly take a liking to "Derek and The Long Tail Bandits" along with a few thousand other music consumers, then the money I spend on their songs displaces at least a portion of my spending on my least favorite of the more popular artists. On a macro scale, this could have a tremendous effect on the profitability of record producers or book publishers or anyone who serves the popular market through physical goods and distribution and is faced by new competition by "unpublished" artists selling online. There’s an interesting side issue here, which I have not seen anyone write about. IF the long tail exists in the market for a certain type of good AND the total dollar value of that tail (dollars per specific narrow sliced product x all specifics) is large relative to the total dollar value of the popular goods, THEN when the long tail of the market is served, demand will fall for the popular goods. This assumes, of course, that consumers of that type of good face limits on their total spending in that category.

For example, music is said to be a market with a long tail. And if I suddenly take a liking to “Derek and The Long Tail Bandits” along with a few thousand other music consumers, then the money I spend on their songs displaces at least a portion of my spending on my least favorite of the more popular artists. On a macro scale, this could have a tremendous effect on the profitability of record producers or book publishers or anyone who serves the popular market through physical goods and distribution and is faced by new competition by “unpublished” artists selling online.

]]> Comment on “The Long Tail” Explained by: Best of eBay Blogs » Blog Archive » “The Long Tail” Explained http://www.jason.netrino.com/weblog/2005/12/22/the-long-tail-explained/#comment-59 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:15:43 +0000 http://www.jason.netrino.com/weblog/2005/12/22/the-long-tail-explained/#comment-59 [...] Originally by Jason from The Steinhorn Stare on December 22, 2005, 12:00pm [...] […] Originally by Jason from The Steinhorn Stare on December 22, 2005, 12:00pm […]

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