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Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: Empirical analysis of the market for DVDs

Author

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  • W. D. Walls

    (University of Calgary)

Abstract

This research presents a systematic empirical analysis of the market for digital versatile discs (DVDs). We examine a sample of 953 DVD titles that appeared on the weekly top-30 sales charts in North America over a 30-month interval. We find that the size distribution of weekly DVD sales revenue does not indicate the presence of increasing returns to information. The empirical results for DVD sales contrast starkly with previous results obtained for motion-picture box-office revenue, where a number of researchers have found evidence of positive feedback in demand. While the distribution of cumulative revenues across DVDs is highly unequal, the DVD market appears not to be characterized by the extreme heavy upper tail that so well describes the winner-take-all nature of the distribution of box-office success across motion pictures.

Suggested Citation

  • W. D. Walls, "undated". "Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: Empirical analysis of the market for DVDs," Working Papers 2014-50, Department of Economics, University of Calgary, revised 23 Sep 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:clg:wpaper:2014-50
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    Cited by:

    1. Jordi McKenzie, 2010. "How do theatrical box office revenues affect DVD retail sales? Australian empirical evidence," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 34(3), pages 159-179, August.
    2. Trilce Navarrete & Karol J. Borowiecki, 2015. "Change in access after digitization: Ethnographic collections in Wikipedia," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-10-2015, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Oct 2015.
    3. Weber, Nicolas R. & Marchand, André & Kunz, Reinhard E., 2024. "Price and delay decisions for sequentially released products: The case of transactional streaming services," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 687-702.
    4. Jordi McKenzie & Vladimir Smirnov, 2018. "Blockbusters and market expansion: evidence from the motion picture industry," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 341-352, May.
    5. Milenko POPOVIĆ & Kruna RATKOVIĆ, 2013. "Oversupply Of Labor And Other Peculiarities Of Arts Labor Market," Theoretical and Practical Research in the Economic Fields, ASERS Publishing, vol. 4(2), pages 204-230.
    6. Jordi McKenzie, 2023. "The economics of movies (revisited): A survey of recent literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 480-525, April.
    7. Staffan Albinsson, 2013. "Swings and roundabouts: Swedish music copyrights 1980–2009," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 37(2), pages 175-184, May.
    8. Aloys Prinz & Jan Piening & Thomas Ehrmann, 2015. "The success of art galleries: a dynamic model with competition and information effects," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 39(2), pages 153-176, May.

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    JEL classification:

    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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