News
Mobile content's 'long tail' disappears
Tim Green Oct 13 2008, 2:13pm
Comments (13)
Research shows up to 92 per cent of songs in mobile stores have not been downloaded.
Research revealed to ME shows that consumers download just a small fraction of the songs available on full-track mobile services.
This is the reverse of the argument made by tech thinker Chris Anderson in his book The Long Tail, which decreed that the success of digital retail depends on depth of catalogue.
That thinking has been adopted almost wholesale in the mobile content space too.
But according to 24-7 Entertainment, which runs music services for online and mobile partners including operator TDC and Omnifone, vast swathes of songs languish unloved.
It says that of 4.3 million songs available to mobile users on all-you-can-eat services it powers, 3.68 million (85 per cent) have never been downloaded at all.
The numbers are even more dramatic in the á la carte space. Here, 4.13 million (92 per cent) out of 4.5 million tracks have never been purchased.
The stats suggest long tail hoopla is over-hyped and that mobile music services could get by with 900,000 tracks and few would complain, at least with current discovery tools.
Frank Taubert, CEO of 24-7 Entertaiment, believes better recommendation engines can drive consumption.
“It will be interesting to see what happens with the referral services we’re launching, and also with super-distribution and encrypted sideloads,” he said.
But why bother? Surely the number of subs matters more than activity. This is true to an extent, but the labels see all-you-can-eat as a means to upselling premium products such as live tickets, merchandise or mobile personalisation.
Such ideas have become more compelling to the record biz in a remarkable few weeks for digital music, which has seen huge announcements from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, MySpace, Sandisk and Amazon.
Comments
“Classic Misreporting”
Posted by: Anvil - Oct 13, 3:21pm
The long tail is there but you can't find it on the mobile. The problem is content discovery. The long tail can be found on iPod/iPhone where side loading and content discovery is achievable.
“Re: Classic Misreporting”
Posted by: mariozorz - Oct 13, 4:04pm
I totally agree with you Anvil, the long tail is there, but content discovery is what is the main point to be attacked. It is really dificult to harness the possibility of getting the right content to the right users in such small tiny screens and in small time frames as per the use mobile phones are given. Users certainly do not behave the same when on the go with their mobiles as they do when sitting in front of a desktop PC, not to count the visible available information to the eye is of course broader on bigger screens.
The long tail is there, it's rather about content discovery now as to how the long tail is viewed in tiny screens.
regards
“bang on”
Posted by: active downloader - Oct 13, 5:07pm
The stats bear out what we all know (and what the story actually points out) that the recommendation/discovery mechanisms in mobile just aren't mature enough yet. They really should be though - mobile music stores aren't a new concept, are they.
“Re: Classic Misreporting”
Posted by: Paul K - Oct 13, 5:17pm
I'd say it's absolutely right to question where the long tail is, considering that every operator portal revamp and mobile service provider store launch/platform upgrade for the last 3 years had espoused how great they are for discovery of recommendations.
yes, mobile is more constrained that a PC app or full web browser in terms of of the discovery tools at its disposal. However, you'd think we;d have found a better way of unlocking mobile's potential as a retail mechanism by now, particularly as ll the marketing for the likes of Napster Mobile etc bangs on about that fact that 4 trillion songs are available.
“Interesting debate”
Posted by: StuartOB - Oct 13, 5:33pm
If anyone has thoughts on how discovery can be improved on mobile, feel free to to chip in...
“Re: Re: Classic Misreporting”
Posted by: Anvil - Oct 13, 5:51pm
The problem is thinking that operators will ever figure out mobile's potential. Again, consumers have no problem finding the long tail of music with iPod/iPhone.
“Re: Re: Classic Misreporting”
Posted by: Anvil - Oct 13, 6:02pm
The problem is thinking that operators will ever figure out mobile's potential. Again, consumers have no problem finding the long tail of music with iPod/iPhone.
“Re: Re: Re: Classic Misreporting”
Posted by: croz´ - Oct 13, 6:09pm
"Our understanding of the world around us is constantly being redefined and expanded, and so therefore, it is wiser to be passionate about seeking for truth than knowing it."
...or being told how to find a thing for oneself, maybe?
“Nice article”
Posted by: Hammer - Oct 13, 6:21pm
I'd be interested to see how % of catalog accessed differs by handsets - i.e. high-end big displays vs feature phones. And do download providers tweak their storefronts depending on handset capabilities?
“Re: Nice article”
Posted by: Igor Shraibman - Oct 13, 7:44pm
Long tail is there, but people who use on-portal services are less “mobile advanced”, than LT-users, otherwise they will use off-portal sources
So they eat what MNO serve up, and enjoy it
85-90% users of our on-portal RBT service not going far from top-10 part
From other hand on our off-portal wap RBT, where is the search line is the most important part of service, users check al least 18-20 content pieces before buying
“Re: Re: Nice article”
Posted by: NightlyMuse - Oct 14, 3:03pm
The long tail does not apply to mobile..the user mind set will not allow it. The user has time at the PC to explore and discover..the user at the Cell has an information need and is looking for the best possibility with out the discovery process. The Cell user has a mental mark on time spent searching vs time spent enjoying. The PC user will explore..the cell user is only trying to relocate what they already know. The same applies to data overload in GPS tracking.At some point the additional information is just overload not resource. 80% of the population only needs 20%of the information available.
“Re: Re: Re: Nice article”
Posted by: Alakazoo - Oct 17, 9:08pm
I agree...It's all about discovery. And segmentation. When my carrier will know my tastes (or a general idea...) and suggest niche content that I feel is worth discovering...chances are i will buy in.
“Long Tail”
Posted by: Eric Chan - Oct 20, 6:45pm
From an article from Mobile Marketer: "Mobile users don’t buy what they can’t find and content providers can’t survive if they have to spend more of their marketing budgets on costly, imprecise mass media and Web promotions." (reference: http://www.mobilem...html)
The long tail will only work if there are a good set of search and discovery tools. Since there was a mad rush to sign partnerships and acquire content, the search and discovery part seems to be an afterthought and is trying to bring up the rear.
In some independent testing that I have done the Long Tail *can* work with using better mobile search tools that are focused on actually finding mobile content that you can consume on your device. Check out MCN at: http://www.mcn-inc.com; they are focused on addressing the Long Tail access issues by providing search and discovery solutions combined with their allwords (SM) paid content promotion programs.