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Superstars and the Long Tail: The impact of technology on market structure in media industries

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  • Weeds, Helen

Abstract

Technological change is transforming creative media industries. Digitisation lowers recording, storage, reproduction and distribution costs, while computer-based editing facilitates higher quality and special effects. With electronic distribution a vast range of content can be made available to consumers across global markets. The distribution of industry sales appears to be shifting: the late 20th century was the era of the 'hit parade' but attention has now shifted to the 'long tail'. This paper develops a model of differentiated products with endogenous quality and heterogeneous firms to examine the implications of technological change for product variety, quality, and the distribution of firms in media industries.

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  • Weeds, Helen, 2011. "Superstars and the Long Tail: The impact of technology on market structure in media industries," CEPR Discussion Papers 8719, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8719
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    Cited by:

    1. Simon P. Anderson & Bruno Jullien, 2015. "The advertising-financed business model in two-sided media markets," Post-Print hal-02866192, HAL.
    2. Katz, Raúl L., 2013. "Broadband, digitization and development," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37062.
    3. Alexei Kolokolov, 2011. "Futures hedging: Multivariate GARCH with dynamic conditional correlations (in Russian)," Quantile, Quantile, issue 9, pages 61-75, July.
    4. Bustillo, René, 2013. "The advance of cloud computing," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37068.
    5. Katz, Raúl L. & Galperin, Hernán, 2013. "The demand gap: drivers and public policies," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37060.
    6. Galperin, Hernán & Mariscal Avilés, Judith & Viecens, María Fernanda, 2013. "National broadband plans," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37065.
    7. Audretsch, David B. & Lehmann, Erik E. & Menter, Matthias & Wirsching, Katharine, 2021. "Intrapreneurship and absorptive capacities: The dynamic effect of labor mobility," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. Bustillo, René, 2013. "Net neutrality: debate and policies," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37067.
    9. Choi, Daewon, 2013. "Broadband and industrial policy: the Korean experience..," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37066.
    10. Ganuza, Juan José & Viecens, María Fernanda, 2013. "The challenge of over-the-top content and services," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37069.
    11. Helen Arce Salazar & Leon Oerlemans, 2016. "Do We Follow the Leader or the Masses? Antecedents of the Willingness to Pay Extra for Eco-Products," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 286-314, July.
    12. Helen Weeds, 2016. "Is The Television Licence fee fit for Purpose in the Digital Era?," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 2-20, February.
    13. Flores-Roux, Ernesto M., 2013. "Mobile broadband: the urgent need for speedier roll-out," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37063.
    14. Barrantes, Roxana & Jordán, Valeria & Rojas, Fernando, 2013. "The shifting digital paradigm in Latin America," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37059.
    15. Colciago, Andrea & Etro, Federico, 2013. "Cloud computing, structural change and job creation in SMEs," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37064.
    16. León, Omar de, 2013. "Regional and international connectivity," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37061.
    17. -, 2013. "Broadband in Latin America: Beyond Connectivity," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 35899 edited by Eclac.
    18. Jacques Bughin & Nicolas van Zeebroeck, 2024. "Strategic Renewal and Corporate Return of Digital Transformation," Working Papers TIMES² 2024-071, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital media; Creative industries; Superstars; Long tail;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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