Chris Anderson's Theory - The Long Tail (2006)

This is one of the main theories that I will be using within the Media in the online age subject. It Was created by Chris Anderson in 2006 and focuses of the retail aspect of Media in the online age. This theory states that pre broadband internet era stores would have to focus on the more mainstream bestselling products as these would sell the best bringing in the largest profit, this meant due to sheld space limitations that the more niche products would not be stocked in the same quantity if at all. The Long Tail Theory states that due to broadband internet being avaiable to the vast majority that online retailers are able to stock these more niche products as they are not limited by shelf space and that the sales of these niche products added together will equal or surpass the profit of the mainstream sales.

The Long Tail Theory can be applied to the music industry very easily. It can be seen that before the broadband era that music stores would stock the top 10 albums in the largest quantity and the more niche products would be stocked in very small numbers compared to these. But as broadband came in and online retailers took note of the Long Tail Theory more niche products such as older genration music or bands from a niche genre can be easily found online.