The Looooooooonnnnnnnnggggg Tail

Christopher Anderson wrote a book called "The Long Tail", which discusses the current change in the internet and digital market. He is interviewed on KCRW's Politics of Culture podcast, and the conversation covers the implications of digital media, digital "shelf space", and the relationship between physical goods and digital goods and the birth of niche markets. The line he uses is "we are selling less of more".

link to the podcast

link to the book on Amazon

Beyond the basic business implications of digital media, the whole intellectual property/ copyright/ creative commons discussion is now the immanent major cultural debate. In general it highlights western culture's "obsession with possession" and digital music exchange will be on the forefront of a more broad cultural revolution to relinquish ideals of ownership in exchange for a shared experience. The desire to forego ownership has already been concieved of by the consumer, and now we must find ways to make it plausible for the creators and producers.