Re-evaluating the Long Tail

This chapter evaluates the long tail theory, more than a dozen years after it was first articulated as a model for the digital media economy. As this chapter illustrates, both the research evidence and the evolution of industry practice have demonstrated that the long tail phenomenon has failed to take hold to the extent expected. This chapter outlines the interconnected technological, institutional and economic factors that explain the decline of the long tail, and considers the implications of this decline for audiovisual diversity on the Internet, and for media diversity research.