THE LONG TAIL THEORY
The phrase “The Long Tail” was first coined by Chris Anderson in a 2004 article
in ‘Wired’ magazine.
The Long Tail Theory describes how the Internet has
influenced economics, commerce and consumption.
Since Broadband was introduced in 2001, these impacts
have been most prominent.
i.e. The Head is ONE shop that has 50 customers. The
Long Tail is 50 websites than each have 1 customer.
The Long Tail theory can be applied to the film
industry in terms of how films are distributed. i.e. The
Head is a high street film retailer such as Blockbuster. The Long Tail is an online film
distribution service such as Amazon.
This means that high street shops (the Head) that sell films are gradually becoming less popular
due to the restrictions they experience in terms of shelf-space. Internet retailers (the Long Tail)
do not experience this as they do not have a physical shop. Their unlimited space shelf allows
them to provide for niche markets, increasing their customers as they have a wider variety of
products.
For example, The Head may contain: Cinema chains such as Cineworld, Odeon; film retailers
such as HMV, Blockbuster etc. The Long Tail may contain: Internet sites such as Netflix,
YouTube, LOVEFiLM etc.; iTunes etc. Due to the growing accessibility of the Internet, more
and more films are being downloaded online rather than bought in the shops.
Impacts on the Film Industry
Advantages
•Films are more available online, increasing views and popularity.
•Facilities such as film forums allow customers to give feedback, helping the film industry
to improve.
•People can narrow down their choices of film via filtering services.
•Customers can see what films are similar to those that they - like, broadening target
audiences for other films.
Disadvantages
•Illegal downloads i.e. Putlocker, Sockshare. 1channel.
•High street shops lose sales as customers resort to online purchases.
•Those without internet access are limited to only films that are in shops.
1
