Response to Mark Cuban's Long Tail Update

Below is a comment I posted to Mark Cuban's article "Are You A 1 Hit Wonder Or A Meal Ticket?"

Check out the article and my comment below:

I think that a lot creative content producers have definitely surrendered to the paycheck. There are shows on the air that are flopping like a fish out of water but won’t quit until they’ve milked it for all its worth. They don’t care at all about stopping while they’re ahead and preserving their reputation in history because there’s never any insurance that their next project will get noticed. Not that there ever was, but now more than ever, the chances of getting lost in the clutter are immensely high. I think niche markets and content in the “long tail” are nice and all, but combined with today’s challenges of piracy and file-sharing, the creative industries are flat-out suffering in the hands of new media (economically at least). Those who genuinely make art for fun are loving it; after all, a drumming cat can get more than 1,000,000 views on YouTube faster than a talented band can these days. Those who seek sheer exposure are certainly advantaged, but their work is typically of a lower standard than those who do it professionally. And we can all understand how professional content creators are vulnerable in the long tail.
The content that is succeeding most are experience-based arts like live concerts or 3D movies. Some industry players are adjusting quickly and skipping the sitting-and-sulking phase, which I think is as commendable as it is bold. Surely some advantageous attempts at industry change will fail, but there needs to be a shift in order to revive spirits, and taking a stab at it is the first step. The long tail is in full swing, and it’s a game-changer than can either be detrimental or extremely beneficial–it just depends on how willing artists are to adjust and take risks. Those who aren’t will fizzle out, and those who are have the potential to completely reinvent a culture-shaping American industry.