The Long Tail of Jam Music

“The Long Tail” a New York Times Bestseller written by Chris Anderson advances a theory which has definitely worked for its author.  Mr. Andersons’ book explains “why the future of business is selling less of more.”  He describes how changes in technology and to a large degree the emergence of the internet have changed patterns of consumption and demand in our industrialized society.  His theory is “that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and moving toward a huge number of niches in the tail.”  The main reason for this change, he explains, is the drop in the production and distribution costs and the end of bottlenecks in the distribution process such as limited shelf space.

While people like Gerd Leonard question the data underlying Mr. Andersons theory and provide data which refutes the “Long Tail” theory, it is true that numbers of jam bands whose members have not read this book have long and successfully used the methods described in this book to build loyal followings.  Earlier than any other genre, jam music and its membership have embraced the idea of selling highly customized goods to a small number of people.  Many aspects of the jam band philosophy reflect the ideas upon which the long tail theory is based.  Here are three examples that demonstrate that this is so.