long tail : myth or reality?

In 2004 the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, Chris Anderson, made the assumption that the Internet was bringing together scattered markets for cultural products that had not hitherto been lucrative due to their narrow market appeal. With sales of these products aggregated, he argued, they were now becoming profitable. This assumption, referred to as the “long tail,” proved to be persuasive. It opened up prospective new markets for cultural goods, promoting the idea that online sales could increase cultural diversity. This article examines the initial research on the long tail assumption, drawing on the results of both published and unpublished works. It concludes that, despite the appeal of this argument, the data only partially support Anderson’s assumption.