] Forget squeezing millions from a few megahits at the top
] of the charts. The future of entertainment is in the
] millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the
] bitstream.

[ The editor of Wired takes a stab at redefining the business model that entertainment companies should be looking at.

There are some compelling statistics in the article, and a lot of arguments similar to those made by myself and others around here in the past few years. Leveraging the power of collaborative filtering and network effects inherently, flexible pricing based on popularity metrics, modified cost structures and the removal of locality as a parameter for the customer base.

If his numbers are accurate, anywhere between 20 and 50% of existing potential markets may be untapped because there's simply no way to get people to the product efficiently in the physical space. That's an awful lot of money and more importantly, an awful lot of diverse cultural media that could be available to the greater audience. -k]

Wired 12.10: The Long Tail