The Long Tail

For decades, the entertainment media have been driven by hits: hit TV series, hit records, hit movies. With the internet, the hits-based economy is falling apart. Since MiND is completely new, we’re unencumbered by the stale practices associated with older media.

Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail theory of internet-era economics has influenced MiND. Briefly, it works this way: in an economy of abundance, growth is found not in the mass market, but in smaller groups of people deeply engaged in specific content. In the music industry, best selling records are less common than before, and micro-genres are now driving the business. In the the book business, 90 percent of Amazon’s book sales come not from best-sellers, but from a vast number of special interest titles. In TV, mainstream series attract audiences half the size they once did, while thousands of small programs on YouTube and other services find increasingly large numbers of highly-engaged viewers.

This is a theory in evolution: we all learn more about it everyday. Many Long Tail concepts apply to MiND. Some examples:

1. Don’t assume we know more than the viewers know.
We don’t know what you want to watch. We’re producing a lot of programs on a lot of topics, and we hope you’ll do the same. And, together, we’ll figure out what works best. To put this another way, the collective intelligence of the MiND community is going to be a very powerful force.

2. Let viewers and members do the work.
This is consistent with Wikipedia’s approach to filling the world’s largest encyclopedia, and with the ways we’ve all recommended books, movies and music on websites. It’s the way that the web, and the blog culture, was built, and it’s going to be the way that television evolves. The tools now belong to the people.

3. One distribution system does not fit all.
From the start, MiND was conceived as an analog television channel, a digital television channel, a web television channel, and a web video-on-demand service. As we continue to build MiND, we expect our programs and our community’s ideas to be distributed on a great many platforms-- not all of them video or TV or internet-based.

4. One price does not fit all.
MiND is a non-profit, so our application of this idea is related to dues and contributions. Our membership dues are based on who you are: if you’re an individual, you pay less than a company pays. And, if you’re a non-profit lacking resources for membership or production, money is available to help because it was provided by other community members. We believe that each member will pay his, her, or its fair share.

5. Think “and” not “or.”
Most TV channels select one or two programs per genre, and then, they shut the door on similar concepts. At MiND, we set no such limits. In fact, we encourage members and producers to watch MiND, to provide alternative or contrary or complementary versions of what they see.

6. Forget about pre-filtering. Emphasize post-filtering.
Pre-filtering: a TV program executive chooses what you see on TV. Post-filtering: you have access to lots of programs and recommend the best ones to the community. At MiND, we’ve set up a few basic rules, and then, we let the viewers decide what MiND ought to be. In time, we’ll make this process easier by offering viewer-built playlists of favorite MiND programs, and other recommendation filters.

7. Understand the power of free.
MiND does not charge viewers for access; we provide MiND for free. Producers, companies and organizations provide MiND programs for free distribution to viewers. Why? To introduce ideas to new audiences; to educate; to show portions of longer works that may be available for sale; to build personal reputations; to demonstrate expertise; to encourage participation in community activites and enterprises; to visibly demonstrate community support and a passion for an educated public. Free is powerful stuff.

Next: Quotable MiND