An Economic Shift

From reading "The Long Tail" by Chris Anderson, I feel that "hits" in the media and entertainment industry are going to be around regardless.  There is always going to be something that is generally liked by a large population, but the influence "hits" have over the population has shifted. Now that we as consumers have access to virtually anything that caters to our unique likes and interests, we can wander from the mainstream and find "niches". For example, in the excerpt Anderson explained how a CD store will only stock a record that sells a certain number of copies per month to cover costs and still make a profit. It would only make sense to stock CD's that are the most popular with a broad clientele. In contrast, take an online music database that makes profit from user subscriptions and allows users unlimited access to a variety of different types of music that aren't "hits". This unlimited access versus a generalized "one-size fits all" access as described in the excerpt has caused a great economic shift. It's a rarity to find a movie rental store anymore because Redbox and Netflix have revolutionized the rental industry. "Hits" are always going to be popular because there are always going to be things that the general population likes, but they won't be as influencial. The new concept of options and unlimited access is on the rise.