Niche Culture

Chris Anderson is good at researching all the topics he discusses in "The Long Tail", that much is obvious, and I sometimes wonder at the wording and generalisations used by the sources from which he gets his information . I remember the "Disco" craze of the late 70's early 80's. It was phenomenal. It is true that everyone had to release a Disco album, but it had more to do with wanting to be a part of the phenomenon than being forced by record labels or producers. Artists themselves wanted a part of the craze. Anderson says that audiences soon got bored and wanted to burn disco albums - which they did in Chicago in the most famous event - but that was staged by producers trying to re-spark the craze as it was dying down, not because the masses were in revolt. Disco tunes are still being covered by bands of all genres, like the Bee Gee's "How Deep Is Your Love", by Jaared on his Manhattan Nights cd, and many others. He also says that the "House Music" that was supposed to have replaced Disco was as big of a craze as Disco itself. I remember that it was huge, but it was a niche more than anything else. It used Disco Music covers so it didn't really replace Disco, it just altered it. It was created by djs who only play other people's music, not their own, and it led to another phenomenon "Raves", which were definitely niche parties for teens and want-to-be teens, that were not something in which the "mainstream" of culture participated. I appreciate reading this chapter in Anderson, it reminds me of some times I had forgotten, but I don't think that he and his sources should use such strong metaphors when they describe events that happened before most of the students reading his book were born. It can be misleading.