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Topic History of: the long tail
Max. showing the last 5 posts - (Last post first)
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Mart |
The best long tail ends in a phone call. |
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MisterSmart |
I must say Mister Smart, I actually operate socially and business-wise in the same way as I am contributing to this thread, which anybody who has met me can verify.
That maybe true for you Mart, but, evidence suggests that the majority of people do a lot of things online they would not do offline and as a result, social groups online interact, grow and evolve differently than those offline.
There are some parallels, of course, such as humour being the most common catalyst for viral phenomenon across social groups, but, in the context of this discussion about music and the online marketplace, I don't think the long-tail access-to-market theory is as interesting as discussing how social groups work online.
It was quite interesting when anderson wrote the original article 3 years ago..but for me, it's more a long beard theory, that has gotten way too long. |
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zooloo |
DJKZ wrote:
...that you MUST monetise your viral campaign with ads, offers or sell related product that appeal to the masses as they are not necessarily going to buy your product at this stage.
It is chicken and egg, to get worthwhile advertising you need a high profile. If you have that profile you don't want advertising you want sponsorship.
Rather than ads that divert people you'd be better off focusing on your own product.
(Unless you are trying to rival things like MySpace and aggregate other people's content to fill out a page of adverts - then the product is adverts) |
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DJKZ |
There is another way to look at it.
Creating a momentum online is actually quite simple but not always at your control.
What you need to do is create something that contains a genuine trigger for the punters to pass it along.
Of course this means that it must be free to do so.
How this will translate into sales will depend on the story. Nizlopi's JCB is a great example of how to create a hit online and then move it offline to go for the kill.
The video was novel, interesting in itself regardless of the music's appeal, thus guaranteeing people passed it along. That in itself had a small impact on sales but nevertheless created a viable story to which the push for xmas number one was the outcome. Then with a good team they were able to capitalize on this and had a big hit.
I still maintain and we are now beginning to see the big boys jumping on this bandwagon, that you MUST monetise your viral campaign with ads, offers or sell related product that appeal to the masses as they are not necessarily going to buy your product at this stage. A small percentage will but don't expect them to.
It is a slow process but the alternative is to gig for 3 years plus to build your fanbase. Forget about radio playlisting your music unless you are tied in with the majors or have big business backing you as radio tend to not have the balls to playlist anything that doesn't have Major Label or big corporations behind it. |
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zooloo |
Very good point on those in the long tail is where they belong (Niche) and will never move upwards. As you observe it was ever thus.
The Internet long tail of itself is not new, what is different is it's a very long one with lots of people. Many more than you or I could hope to meet in a lifetime.
The issue of getting their attention is secondary to their presence. The long tail theory doesn't deal with how to use itself but is really an observation that it exists.
Considering social networks, the long tail still lurks. Rather than try and compete with MySpace I can start a niche social network and filter out the obvious dross for my niche market for example.
Where musicians can flourish is were the big players can't afford to play - the return is not massive enough.
It may not be global stardom but it could be an honest living for some.
The main problem is treating something like the Long Tail as the only option and not as part of the overall scheme.
I am not an advocate or expert on Long Tail things, as I understand it what is being pointed out is the side streets to the main thoroughfare can do good business too. If you are a small operator there is still opportunity. |
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