The Long Tail

The Long Tail according to Wikipedia is used in relation to wealth distributions. According to Jessica , the Long Tail is the phrase given to describe how large amounts of products sell very little, while very little products sell large amounts. At first I didn’t understand exactly what the Long Tail meant, but after reading Wikipedia’s definition, along with some of what Elena mentioned, I’m getting a better understanding of the Long Tail. The best example I could give is the music industry, which everyone seems to using as an example. Alright, so many know that when new music is released a certain number goes to different record stores right? Good! Well, the new music isn’t what makes up the sells of music in the store, it’s the older, and much rarer music that has to be shipped in from warehouses that people are yearning for but cannot find anywhere. But it is a little confusing to imagine this because one would think that the big names in the music business are the ones selling and allowing the record store to stay open. The idea is to sell a large quantity of one thing, and then make as much off that one single product, like the Apple Ipods. I agree with Joy, by Apple using their name to sell such a phenomenal product it made the first spectrum of the Long Tail very high on the graph. The other products Apple sell such as computers, and software too sell, but not as rapidly as the Ipods, or in such large massive, but they do also sell. Therefore the second or lower spectrum of the Long Tail graph is made up of everything else that sells at slower speeds.

The best example of finding rare products is by looking online. There are many stores that come to mind, but the one I visit most frequently is the Amazon.com store. This store sells books, music, and anything else you could think of. The reason it’s a great example of Long Tail is because it sells rare books, and music and other products that are hard to find in stores, simply because certain products cannot be found in stores, and these products are on the lower spectrum (or the yellow part) of the graph. The whole idea of selling these products are because they keep the tail part of the graph growing year around, unlike the new released products that eventually dwindle in sells. Check out “The Long Tail” article because this gives a great example of how the Amazon store works to the advatage of many people. Chasing the Long Tail is another site that breaks down how the Long Tail works and gives a lot of examples in the opinion of Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.

Online stores have lagre warehouse in which all of their products are stored. Like when new music is released it’s shipped from the warehouse to your common FYE, and Tower Records, but not every single record. It’s like only a certain amount is sent to every store, and the rest is stored in the warehouse. If the record store runs out too quickly they sometimes tell you that the’ll get another shipment in soon, or advise you to buy it online. The reason the warehouses store the music is because the shelves at record stores can’t possibly store all the new, old, and rare music all at the same time. Overall, the Long Tail offers people the choice of buying what they truly want instead of what the next big thing is.