Hits And Misses
"We equate mass market with quality and demand, when in fact it often just represents familiarity, savvy advertising, and broad if somewhat shallow appeal. What do we really want? We're only just discovering, but it clearly starts with more."
Quoted from an article in Wired:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
The article is long, at five screens; but, it has some really interesting stuff on the effect digital distribution is having and will have on what media people buy.
3 comments:
In a way, a new band isn't just competing against other new bands anymore- they're competing against every band that ever existed since the dawn of recorded media. Will the artists be able to support themselves in a discount niche market?
If the author is right, I think that a new artist has a better shot at making a living from his or her art. Because, currently the artist has to get on the fast track at Sony, BMG, etc. so as to get promotion. If that doesn't happen the artist is going to play bars till he or she gets a day job.
If the artist has something that, with the digital library can reach people without the now necessary Clear Channel playlist rotation, MTV placement, etc., can be found and bought by people that like it, they may find themselves not needing to get a day job.
Kind of like our blogs with an economic underpinning that we lack.
Sometimes I get the impression that a large majority will simply buy whatever the TV and magazines tell them to buy.
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