Why popular music is an exception and not the rule?
In his book, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson mentions that even though some of the songs fail the hit test, they still continue to exist. This happens because a different economics, other than the Blockbuster economics, is at play.
However, more often than not, we tend to fall into the mental trap of confusing the exception for the norm due to scarcity thinking. Here are some of the mental traps the author mentions in his book.
“Everyone wants to be a star.
Everyone’s in it for the money.
If it isn’t a hit, it’s a miss.
The only success is the mass success.
’Direct to video’ = bad.
’Self-published’ = bad.
’Independent’ = ‘they couldn’t get a deal.’
Amateur = Amateurish.
Low-selling = Low-quality.
If it were good, it would be popular.
Too much choice is overwhelming.”
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