We believe that the current music recording and distribution system is broken. With the vast array of new technologies now available providing musicians and labels with the means to market, promote and distribute their products via the internet, new eco-systems have been created; Nerve-nets that spawn from each other and keep growing exponentially. With that in mind we consider the music recording and distribution system as a carte blanche on which we can impose our ideas. Everything is possible.
Our theories about the music distribution system are neither jaded nor cynical. Some of our ideas about the system have parallels with ‘The Long Tail’ an idea set forth by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. He wrote The Long Tail, which first appeared in Wired in October 2004 and will become a book, published by Hyperion, in early 2006. His Long Tail blog is very compelling and worth a look –
http://www.thelongtail.com/about.html
Anderson says, “The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-target goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare”.
He says nice things about the Moose too -
http://www.thelongtail.com/the_long_tail/2005/09/index.html
There’s more here.
Related Post: Is anyone buying music anymore?.
I find Anderson’s blog incredibly interesting, and relevant. Digital Music Group, the company that bought out our digital distributor, was mentioned as “The First Long Tail IPO”.
From the company’s S-1 document filed with SEC:
“Our strategy is to rapidly acquire by purchase or license the digital rights to as many music and other sound recordings as possible. Our focus is on acquiring rights to back catalogue, out-of-print recordings, past hits and independent label recordings, including those that are not currently available for sale in traditional music retailers. Other recordings we may acquire include music and audio from live performances not previously commercially available, radio and television productions, and other sources that we identify.”
I agree with a lot of what he is saying, and I hope Sick Room can find a place somewhere in the long tail. It kind of goes in line with the concept of the music business becoming service as opposed to product based, especially as the physical media becomes less and less relevant.
June 18th, 2007 at 5:58 pmI believe all companies large and small can find their niche in the Tail. And you’re spot on about the music industry becoming service based rather than product based……
June 18th, 2007 at 10:18 pm