The Long Tail- Chris Anderson

Anderson gives example of an entirely new economic model for the media and entertainment industries, one that is just beginning to show its power.

Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it in service after service. The more they find, the more they like. As they wander further from the beaten path, they discover their taste is not as mainstream as they thought.

Many of our assumptions about popular taste are actually artifacts of poor supply-and-demand matching – a market response to inefficient distribution.

The main problem, if that’s the word, is that we live in the physical world and, until recently, most of our entertainment media did, too. But that world puts two dramatic limitations on our entertainment.

But most of us want more than just hits. Everyone’s taste departs from the mainstream somewhere, and the more we explore alternatives, the more we’re drawn to them.

This is the world of scarcity. Now, with online distribution and retail, we are entering a world of abundance. And the differences are profound.

Long Tail business can treat consumers as individuals, offering mass customization as an alternative to mass-market fare.

These are the rules for the new entertainment economy
1- Make everything available
2- Cut the price in half now lower it
3- Help me find it