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.

• The ever-changing set lists, which are an important characteristic of jam band music, create a huge number of diverse and unique shows which in turn offer different levels of appeal with the listeners.  Most jam bands do not perform a perfectly concerted and standardized performance such as one would expect from a Madonna attraction, but rather a mutation derived from the set list, the inspiration of the musicians and the interactions between the musicians and their audience.

• The improvisational element in the music itself produces an unlimited amount of different versions of a single song.  “My favorite Mikes Song,” is not an uncommon title when referring to one of the numerous versions of this song.

• Furthermore the idea of free and easy access to their music has long been a central element in the jam band scene.  Many taper friendly bands encourage people to bring recording devices to their concerts, upload those recordings to online databases such as LMA, and to freely trade this music with others.

Has this application of the long tail philosophy worked for the jam bands as it has for Chris Anderson?  I would say so?  Bands like Phish or Widespread Panic have, unaware of the long tail philosophy, become highly efficient companies by conducting part of their business in much the same manner as presented in this bestselling book.  Internet sites such as livewidespreadpanic.com or livephish.com provide free show samples plus the option of buying whole shows online.  The Live Phish series has become a collector’s item and a true example of people buying less of more.  Let’s not forget the loyal fan base, mentioned earlier, who is quite willing to spend the money to see several shows and will be ticket holders for the three upcoming Phish reunion concerts.  In addition, many businesses, like www.nugs.net, or www.livedownloads.com benefit from the appeal of owning the original sound board recording of a show one personally attended or a special version with an extended jam featuring a single song.  Surprisingly yet in conformance with the long tail theory these operations coexist with free trading websites such as the Live Music Archive (LMA) and db.etree.org.

I will be curiously following the “Long Tail” discussions online.  For me the book was an interesting read.