4 ms·

Isn't the success of Amazon, CD Baby, or Netflix supporting the long tail? Granted, there are additional dynamics contributing to the success of each, but...

doug_m 17y ago
That really depends what the individual shops are selling - I remember reading that almost all Amazon's revenue for CDs came down to a collection the same size as you'd find in a large high street cd library.
mattmaroon 17y ago
No. All of them get the vast majority of their success from the same crap you find in Best Buy or WalMart. Their success only supports the theory that people prize convenience.
absconditus 17y ago
Sites like Etsy are probably a better example.
stcredzero 17y ago
Reminds me of this from Eric S. Raymond: ...the idea that the most valuable gift you can give your users is the *luxury of ignorance* — software that works so well, and is so discoverable to even novice users, that they don’t have to read documentation or spend time and mental effort to learn about it. Convenience is the luxury of ignorance! We live in a period of time when life is rife with complex information and complex choices. Mental effort itself has become a precious commodity. This explains a lot. It also works against the Long Tail. In order to cultivate esoteric tastes, you need time and you need to pay attention. The Internet makes that easier, but it also makes it easier for the mainstream to coopt what's out there on the Long Tail.
- philwelch 17y ago
  "We live in a period of time when life is rife with complex information and complex choices. Mental effort itself has become a precious commodity. This explains a lot. It also works against the Long Tail. In order to cultivate esoteric tastes, you need time and you need to pay attention." You need time and attention to cultivate popular tastes, too. Once you discover a taste for jazz fusion or progressive metal or Japanese pop, though, you can safely stop paying attention to the rest of the music industry.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    "You need time and attention to cultivate popular tastes, too." Nope. I can just walk into Borders or B&N on the way home from work, and buy whatever's bestselling in the CD section. Done in a minute or two. (I walk to work.) What's featured or popular on iTunes? Done in a minute or two. I can just listen to what's on the Radio. Heck, I can just go to retail outlets, and they're playing this stuff for me. The mainstream is still the most convenient, because it has the most resources behind it, because it's still the most profitable. Additionally, the mainstream is an enabler of uncultivated taste -- the ultimate convenience, the ultimate luxury of ignorance. (In the interest of disclosure, I have played Irish Trad music for over two decades, and my preference for entertaining myself musically is to make it myself!)
    - philwelch 17y ago
      You know, you'd be surprised but I don't have the slightest damned idea what the best selling music is right now. A pop song can come out and I don't hear it for weeks. And I don't own a radio outside of my car. There's a slight bump when you get into something esoteric for the first time, but afterwards, you just kind of naturally lose touch.
      - stcredzero 17y ago
        There's a slight bump when you get into something esoteric for the first time, but afterwards, you just kind of naturally lose touch. Not only have I been doing Irish Trad for 20 years, I've also taught it in a music school and competed overseas in it. Thanks for letting a newbie like me know what it's like to get into something esoteric for the first time.

doug_m 17y ago

That really depends what the individual shops are selling - I remember reading that almost all Amazon's revenue for CDs came down to a collection the same size as you'd find in a large high street cd library.

mattmaroon 17y ago

No. All of them get the vast majority of their success from the same crap you find in Best Buy or WalMart. Their success only supports the theory that people prize convenience.

absconditus 17y ago

Sites like Etsy are probably a better example.

stcredzero 17y ago

Reminds me of this from Eric S. Raymond: ...the idea that the most valuable gift you can give your users is the *luxury of ignorance* — software that works so well, and is so discoverable to even novice users, that they don’t have to read documentation or spend time and mental effort to learn about it. Convenience is the luxury of ignorance! We live in a period of time when life is rife with complex information and complex choices. Mental effort itself has become a precious commodity. This explains a lot. It also works against the Long Tail. In order to cultivate esoteric tastes, you need time and you need to pay attention. The Internet makes that easier, but it also makes it easier for the mainstream to coopt what's out there on the Long Tail.

philwelch 17y ago
"We live in a period of time when life is rife with complex information and complex choices. Mental effort itself has become a precious commodity. This explains a lot. It also works against the Long Tail. In order to cultivate esoteric tastes, you need time and you need to pay attention." You need time and attention to cultivate popular tastes, too. Once you discover a taste for jazz fusion or progressive metal or Japanese pop, though, you can safely stop paying attention to the rest of the music industry.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  "You need time and attention to cultivate popular tastes, too." Nope. I can just walk into Borders or B&N on the way home from work, and buy whatever's bestselling in the CD section. Done in a minute or two. (I walk to work.) What's featured or popular on iTunes? Done in a minute or two. I can just listen to what's on the Radio. Heck, I can just go to retail outlets, and they're playing this stuff for me. The mainstream is still the most convenient, because it has the most resources behind it, because it's still the most profitable. Additionally, the mainstream is an enabler of uncultivated taste -- the ultimate convenience, the ultimate luxury of ignorance. (In the interest of disclosure, I have played Irish Trad music for over two decades, and my preference for entertaining myself musically is to make it myself!)
  - philwelch 17y ago
    You know, you'd be surprised but I don't have the slightest damned idea what the best selling music is right now. A pop song can come out and I don't hear it for weeks. And I don't own a radio outside of my car. There's a slight bump when you get into something esoteric for the first time, but afterwards, you just kind of naturally lose touch.
    - stcredzero 17y ago
      There's a slight bump when you get into something esoteric for the first time, but afterwards, you just kind of naturally lose touch. Not only have I been doing Irish Trad for 20 years, I've also taught it in a music school and competed overseas in it. Thanks for letting a newbie like me know what it's like to get into something esoteric for the first time.