Can really everybody gets 1.000 true fans?

Kevin Kelly speaks in his blog entry “1000 True Fans” among other things about getting $100.000 per year through 1000 true fans. He also mentions that I only need 1 true fan per day for getting 1000 in three years. But in my opinion it’s not easy to get every day a real true fan, who would buy everything from me. As an average unknown person, it will be very hard to handle that issue. Maybe, I need an extraordinary idea or be exceptionally talented. Another possibility would be to have some special skills. If not, I could order a manager, who could help me for this aim. But that would cost a lot of money. From every point of view, I always need “anything” for solving the approach to get 1000 true fans. In my mind, it’s very difficult to reach this long tail phenomenon without any of those abilities or external help. But what do you think? Can really everybody gets 1000 true fans, no matter which money, skills or talent the person has?

Convergence Culture- Funny Osama Pic

I can not stop laughing at this picture of Sesame Street's Bert and Osama Bin Laden. I do not see why the picture is such a big deal. It's a joke party poopers. Entertainment makes this world and its new new media. If we don't have things to entertain us we will all be boring slobs.
I am a big media reader as far as celebrity gossip and catching up on the latest show I missed. (I love www.mediatakeout.com and www.bossip.com pure entertainment.) I would love to have money like some of the celebs I read up on. So sometimes I visit these sites to see what they have wasted there money on this time. Also celebrities sometimes have exciting news or experiences that I can learn from. Like the big sexting issues amongst our celebrities. Pictures are being leaked all the time and its funny to hear what will happen next. Compared to Convergence Culture these media sites don't let us in on what is actually happening behind the scenes is what I want to know. So I am looking forward to reading further in the Convergence Culture book!!!

Convergence Culture vs Quality of Content

In the days when we were forced to accept the entertainment that was produced exclusively by the different media, be it music, talk or television, one thing that was controlled was quality of content. In the reversal of production - as in the classroom example of top-down & bottom-up production - we have lost the reasonable expectation of quality in programming. I don't mean that all consumer produced content is without quality, but that the ability of the consumer to produce uncensored content has forced the "top-down" producers into a competition of less-is-more. Okay, so that is kind of vague. What I am trying to say is that, in the past, you had to have a certain amount of skill and preparation to be able to present a concept to the world. The finished product that we experienced was exceptional. Sometimes they would make you say 'now how did they do that?' or you would marvel at a persons adeptness at singing, or playing an instrument, or turning a clever phrase. Now, with any and everyone having access to the means of production, there is no quality control and so any wacky idea gets presented to the world. That is fine for the random content that is germane to instant access to distribution, however, because of this, media executives who are listening to their marketing executive who live by numbers and are always looking for trends to make money by have, in some cases, decided to trend with the wacky. I think that this trending is actually making traditional media shoot themselves in the foot. Ratings of television show today are far lower than they were in the past. The reason many people have deserted television for their other devises is because the new shows are not appealing. In some cases where nothing is left to the imagination - autopsies on camera for instance - programming gets downright disgusting and unsuitable for watching while you are eating dinner for instance. Sitcoms are weak and a lot of their content is just genuinely not funny. Hopefully, as the convergence of technology and content progresses, some attention might be re-focused on quality of content. It might just increase audience size.

Notes from class: New Words

Sardinified - Cramped up in classroom 101.

What is the role of non-profits in the long tail theory

After our readings and discussions this week I am curious to know what place the non-profit project has in the world of Media 2.0. The internet is a rich source of open-sourcing and is full of people with projects which are not based on dollars and fans. What about art for the sake of creativity? Here, for example, is a great project I ran across this morning:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

The concept is to gather sketchpads into a collective which is then sent on tour, digitalized and recorded for posterity. I imagine that somewhere in the inner workings there is some money, perhaps a grant which funds the project. However, the focus of the project is not on making money (as far as I can tell). The focus seems to be on collective creativity and empowerment of the people. All those folks who didn't go to art school (or haven't yet). I have been around long enough to see the rise of popular and the fall. In the end, is it really all about how much money you make or how many cheap toys you amass? Don't we, as a society, want to make a place for art for its own sake? We can make the internet a vast emporium of cheep t-shirts and toys or a rich library of many voices.

The Long Tail, 1,000 True Fans and New New Media!

Levinson

New new media is a new new concept for me, considering that multiple forms of mass communication are evolving each day. Levinson’s book is interesting, although some key points strike me as odd. The first chapter is laced with so many references to new media then new new media that by middle of my reading I couldn’t distinguish which he was talking about. In other words, there’s an over use of the phrase in the first chapter. However, I did enjoy reading about how different media companie

s earn their revenue. He lists, for example, how Wikipedia has funding drives and Twitter does venture capital (Levinson, pg. 2). He does note that his sources are mainly internet because of the evolving change in how we use new media. I can honestly say that many of my sources for my social media marketing proposal paper will be internet-based as well. Even books written a year ago are out of date with today’s new concept of communication. The other piece I didn’t like about Levinson’s first chapter was the fact that he spent nearly a third of his time writing about the order of the chapters that were to follow. I haven’t read a book where the author explains his reasoning for putting Blogging before Myspace, and what we would normally think would come first actually comes last…it seems like a pointless use of words. However, I went ahead and began reading the next chapter and I have to say it gets much better. The information he gives about blogging will no doubt be much more useful than explaining why he chose to include that as part of the book.

Anderson

I enjoy Anderson’s book The Long Tail. It not only adds to my own research for my proposal, but it allows me to think about sales in a way that I hadn’t before. The concept of long tail merchandising is a good way to look at how sites like Amazon and Ebay are able to make such huge profits. Inevitably, creating an avenue where consumers can buy obscure items adds to the merchant’s profit, and having the items come from an online store with infinite space rather than limited shelf space really does add to the potential of becoming a major force I the producers’ arena. For those who are not familiar with the long tail, it is explained by the fact that the items which are not considered “hits” (such as beyonce items or blockbuster movies) still makes a company 20% profits. However, limited shelf space creates less availability for these “non hits”. Now, with Amazon, Ebay, and iTunes, people can get these items online with infinite space available to shelve these items. I’m delving more into the book, but I can already see how this will play a major role in my social media marketing plan that I am working on.

This picture comes from Kelly’s article on 1,000 true fans, mentioned in the next section. )

Kelly, Scalzi

Kelly’s perception of 1,000 true fans is something I haven’t heard before but I must say I like the concept! He notes that if you have 1,000 fans who are so dedicated to your work that they will travel anywhere, buy anything you are attached to and notified when you have new things coming up then you will be successful (Kelly). 1,000 true fans is feasible, and it is a much less difficult thing to achieve than 1 million fans. Conversely, if you have a group instead of being an individual artist, you need o increase our number of true fans as well. Also, if you are an artist like a blogger, you make profit by more clicks on your site, which means than you need quite a few true fans to make profit. I really loved the example shared of the writer who asked his true fans to pay $100 collectively to create the next chapter of a book he was writing. He was able to gain many true fans in this way, plus it rewarded them for their support with an exclusive look

at the book before it was published.

Scalzi’s article post that was written in reference to Kelly’s post, and there was some opposition to his claim of 1,000 true fans. Scalzi noted that it is difficult to create 1,000 “true” fans, as opposed to thousands of casual fans (Scalzi). Also, Scalzi said that having fans who would spend that much on a particular artist is also difficult to find. Also, artist compete with fans, fans find new artists and leave old ones, and the fact that they spend money on you doesn’t mean you get all of that money. I like this opposition; it makes me think of this concept in a different, more broken down way. Kelly replied back in another post a short time after Scalzi’s was posted. I always find it interesting when artists combat each other intellectually through their art.

Modifying Medium and Constructing Culture

In the first chapters of The Long Tail, Chris Anderson introduces simplified concepts of his theory, from briefly tracing its history to envisioning the future of the evolving market. He shows that the web amplifies power and extends reach. What will happen as the web evolves to be even more universal and interactive web 2.0 and beyond?

There are overall positive implications with the power of the collective, a democratized power that is shifting back into the hands of the majority, and not just the elite gatekeepers of society.

The traditional one-size-fits-all mass market is changing to one of millions of niches. These endless choices, customized to our unique and diverse interests allow endless options of understanding, informing, creating, sharing. Most importantly, it allows and even entices us to step farther outside of the limited world we know. We can increase our scope of knowledge and clarify our field of vision. We can expand our understanding of others, the world we share, and the diverse wonders within it.

In Convergence Culture, Jenkins points out, the current media change is "reaffirming the right of everyday people to actively contribute to their culture" (136). How will we choose to implement and incorporate these powerful tools and technology into our lives, culture, and society?

Marshall McLuhan was concerned about the impact of mass media. His idea is that society is shaped in accordance with the dominant medium of the time. The emerging medium of Web 2.0 is intricate, complex, and highly interactive. How does our society already reflect these traits?

Susan Dalton

A Tail of Sport Fans

I am a large fan of social media and mass communications via the Internet, especially in the environment of sports. The start of this class has challenged and persuaded me to start thinking in more diverse ways of utilizing social media. With a degree in Sport Management and now perusing a masters in Sport Communication, I think that utilizing The Long Tail theory in the industry can accelerate the sports world into an expansion or their 1K True Fan base. I think the sport and musical industry have a large collection of true fans from a global perspective. I believe that sport itself has a diverse culture that leads to many niches that are virtually everywhere in the world. For example, the world of Lacrosse is dispersed among the country along the coastlines where as the NFL or college football is almost equally spread out across all of the states. Since Lacrosse has yet to obtain a national or global following, or exposure for that matter, it is a strong example of a sport niche. With that, Lacrosse needs to maintain a direct contact with its True 1000 Fans that Kelly explains in his blog. The strongest or most effective way they can maintain this contact is through the expansion and global fascination of social media.

From today’s class discussion on about fans wanting to have that “relationship” with athletes, artists, bands, or authors has become something that organizations and industries need to understand and utilize in a safe environment. Fans of athletes or teams desire that “relationship feeling”, including myself. We get a rush when we tweet our location at a ball game and then retweeted by that teams account. I believe that sport teams and organizations need a social media department to have personnel only focusing on the distribution of a “relationship feeling or tie” to their fans. If they can maintain that relationship feeling between the fan and organization, then those fans, who may not be season ticket holders or of the niche market, will start to deepen their association and ties to that team which can result in increased sales from the niche market in all departments.

In addition, fans of the sports world gather their news or information from the outlets of mass communication; either from ESPN networks or their online communication connections. Not only do athletic fans trust the news ESPN broadcasts, but they also tend to go directly to a specific sport or team that they are fans of to get that specific news and information. Not only does this contribute the driving need of diverse communication outlets in the sports world but an even strong need for data base research to find those fans who may not be of the social media or online audience. That research will help determine how sport organizations can maintain their 1K fans and reach them in the best way possible.

Marina Barrett

.Media 2.0

Taking this class I had the slightest idea as to what I was getting myself into. I have learned a lot in these last four days. I asked myself what the heck is Media 2.0? Now that I know the definition, Media 2.0 is really a huge opinion, that circles around the same answer. Faster Internet, profits, promotions, and the list goes on and on. As technology change the answer will change. In this class I have been introduced to things that I have not put forth much thought about. I do use the Internet a lot, but not until now have I considered it a major factor. I am a facebook, and twitter user and it is a bad habit of mines. Another thing I am the type of person who believes new is always better. I keep up with all the updates, I have a Mac desktop, an iPhone, HP touch smart laptop, and a droid Galaxy Tablet, when it comes to technology I float around. I like having the best of all worlds, I am trying to keeps up.

1,000 True Fans Yeah About That

The 1000 True Fans concept introduced me to a new outlook concerning the global Internet. I never thought about how much money a person can make doing something they love. The concept that all we need is a 1000 true fans who are willing to spend a $100 each, could have someone living comfortable with a 6figure income, ( MINDBOGGLINGLY) As an independent artist, under no label can live a very stable lifestyle with a 1000 die hard, true fans. I consider myself a True Fan for the artist Chris Brown, I will buy any and everything that he puts out. Kelly`s concept makes me want to find my niche and get my fan base up to make a few pennies. I believe the 1,000 True Fans concept works. There is no middle man, there is no better way in my opinion.

Media 2.0

Media 2.0...hmmm interesting title right? That was one of my first thoughts when I enrolled in this course. Also, the previous semester, as I was standing in the hall waiting for my course to start, I listened in on one of Dr. Markman's classes. It was about the internet and media. I would not consider myself an "internet/media savvy" person, but I find myself using the internet more and more everyday for everything! I use it to find new music, new and interesting news, as a means of communication, to shop, find recipes and just about anything else. I think it is pretty cool that I can go online and find old music videos or television programs from my childhood. At the same time, it amazes me to think of how all of this works and how it makes the world so much smaller.I expect to gain a lot of insight from this course and see just how long "the long tail" really is.

as the tail grows longer...

This class has been a breath of fresh air for me. I spend a large portion of my day online for business and personal communication. The "Longer Tail" has struck home on many different levels. I can relate personally to the discussion in class about how we have become a culture capable of filling the niche desires of even the most eccentric consumer. Our new web based economy reacts quickly to the new and even quicker at finding a way to market it.

I use the internet in my job as a Jeweler to source virtually everything we need for our clients. The way we do business today is virtually nothing like it was even ten years ago. Thanks to the rapidly expanding network of vendors around the world I can find the most obscure items in minutes if need be.

At home I use twitter, FB, google+, and reddit, to browse user created content and contribute my own thoughts and creations. Via these social vehicles I can promote the University of Memphis cycling club, stay in touch with freinds, and kill time in any number of ways. I can even make extra money selling my old belongings on ebay.

I like where the discussion in this class is going and hope to learn how to better integrate with the rapidly advancing online community.

Is There A Such Thing as Being Media Bored?

I decided to take on Media 2.0 because I am not a internet media person. Yes, I am only 22 years old but I am stuck in the old age. I usually use the internet on my phone daily but that is only for celebrity news. I recently deleted my Facebook account and I am not on twitter. I do not know why I choose to be so anti social but I am. I am a firm believer in still watching the news, Fox 13 News that is. Joining this Media 2.0 class will inform me on the "new" technology and what I am missing out on. I believe I use internet and other new technical sources less because I do not want to be dependent on them. I admit that I really enjoy my android phone. I can download a lot of things free. That's another reason why I don't participate in a lot of the new technology because it is sooo expensive. I would just rather shop.
Upon reading The Longtail I noticed the significant difference in the music industry. I am a huge music fan of all genres. The Longtail told me insight on the how and why record sales are not as much as they used to be with boybands like NSYNC and pop star Brittney Spears. I frequently visit certain music sites to get informed in what is happening and who is hot right now. I tend to get frustrated at times because the technology sometimes isn't as fast or clear as I like it to be. The "new" technology cost more and takes more time. I would rather remain a regular type person and use the computer for school and business related things.
In participating in class discussions I have noticed all of the difference of opinions pertaining to the media and its source. I can just picture the future!!!
Jashma Purnell

Media 2.0 The Long Tail way.....

Initially looking at the title of the book and the name of the course I had no idea of what to expect to gain out of the class. And as far as reading goes if it isn't about sports I generally have no interest it. But to my surprise this book "The Long Tail" has been very good to read so far. The topics discussed in class are things that most of have probably been well aware of for some time but we've never known what to call it and for me I had no clue that there was a name for it at all but the long tail suits it very well because it makes sense.

On a daily basis we all use the internet but even after just a week and a half of the class I kind of look at the internet a little differently. Just because I now associate things with what I might think is an example of the long tail. The way we use the internet to market and keep things alive is what's interesting about the long tail. It just provides everybody with endless options for whatever they might be in search of and knowing that somewhere out there that one thing is available. Specifically speaking on terms of music, I collect a lot of music but I don't just go for the hits. I'm more into the classic songs that people might overlook or really have no knowledge about. With sites like amazon, iTunes and even Pandora it has allowed music to stay alive and for us all to be a part of it in whatever genre that we may be looking for at the time. I'm glad that we aren't stuck into a hit driven era. I love being able to explore and expand in all areas.

Danny W.

Media 2.0 First Thoughts

Tuesday was my first time attending the class, and as a freshman I had no idea what to expect. Once the lesson commenced, I realized these were familiar concepts that I encounter almost daily. As a musician in the metal community, I rely heavily on the internet as a means for promotion. Though we are not on iTunes, we are on YouTube, which has various suggestion algorithms that allow our music to reach wide audiences. We are, musically speaking, a niche in the grand scope of things, and undoubtedly within the long tail, so any means of advertisement is a blessing.

To realize the methodology and the process by which we obtain (and go about searching for) the things we want is much more in depth then buying the bland "Hey this is the only one" object. Due to various outlets, we now have anything we want literally available to us any time we desire. Be it an obscure Behemoth cd or a vintage foregin film, we have access to niche markets, which may ultimately rival the top sellers in the long run.

The Application of Media 2.0

I came into this class without any idea of what Media 2.0 was. Now I realize I have been aware of these concepts for some time, but now I have a name for them! I buy new camping gadgets only after reading customer reviews online and comparing ratings. I also find myself looking for the next viral hit on youtube. I can get on craigslist and in seconds find exactly what I want, with the seller having to do no advertising at all.

This new Media also makes it possible for virtually any musical artist to be heard. For instance, my Celtic band (extreme niche market) has an album on iTunes. With no marketing to speak of, except for a few local gigs, people from Texas to California have listened to the album and bought tracks. This is all thanks to the iTunes recommendation bar. So if an individual is listening to the “Swallowtail Jig” by their favorite Celtic artist, our album comes up, too. This is just one example of how Media 2.0 is a part of our daily life, whether we realize it or not.

Jesse Anderson

The Longer Long Tail

The Longer long tail... What an interesting name! I wonder how they came up with it? Was it just a stroke of genius or did it start as a joke after seeing the graphs? Its kind of hard to explain yet easy to understand. But, it is interesting none the less. I think that the Longer Long tail is brilliant, and the book is laid out so well so far. I have been pretty interested in all of the readings, which isnt something I usually say about books that my teachers pick out. But so far I am impressed. It is amazing isn't it? How the internet has been molded, and how it was inspired and still is inspired by things around it. Like books and amazon, Music and Itunes, and so much more. Thank god for it too. What if we were still stuck only buying the hits? We wouldnt be aware of what we are missing out on. Almost ALL of my favorite bands and singers are small bands, hardly known, and they are happy there. I probably wouldnt know them unless I attended every major concert just to watch the opening bands. I think it is incredible, the access that we have to everything. And filters, I love filters and the search engine algorithms, it is interesting to me how I can search for one thing, and using similarities and other peoples history be led to something else. The internet is never boring. But the long tail offers everyone a chance, they dont have to have money to put a song online and advertise it, they dont have to be gorgeous to get someone to sign them for their amazing voice, heck thanks to technology you dont have to have an amazing voice anymore. The options and capabilities we have are never ending, and thanks to things like amazon.com, overstock.com, itunes, etc we have a chance to be heard, and to make a name for ourselves without having to go through the big guys, it allows us independence and gives us a chance for abundant availaility, which I will never complain about.

"Video Killed the Radio Star"

In the past, I could listen to a radio station for ten years and know when I jumped in the car to turn on the radio, I could hear my favorite song (and not the same song every seven minutes like a broken record, which is what radio has become). Today with "the world at my finger tips" and all of my favorite music on my mp3, many consumers like me have forgone the radio play and it is dying. There is a song from the 80's, "Video Killed the Radio Star" which tells the tale of how MTV's launch killed radio ratings the first time around when everyone switched the TV on and their radio off. The long tail has had the same effect on traditional media sources. A typical radio station may only survive three years or maybe even less due to the ever-changing tastes and short attentions span of its listeners. As I browse the stations to find a new source every few months it seems I become more and more frustrated with the lack of choices available. So, I found myself at the local electronic store buying and mp3 player and having satellite radio installed in my car just so I can enjoy an occasional song that I actually like. there is only one problem-TIME, or should I say lack of it. By the time I am able to get the satellite radio installed, figure out how to find my favorite stations and then program the stations the technology will change again. Constantly searching, programming, selecting favorites, saving, renaming--who has time for all of this?! Do I adapt, fight against the techno-abyss and suffer or create my own software program to locate and decipher the mass influx of unwanted choices now available in the infinite long tail? Mass media has become an entire culture of its own. The wide range of choices be they from iTunes, satellite radio or podcast are absolutely fabulous. However, if I do not have the time to preload my mp3 player or find what I am looking for while I am driving how good are the choices actually? It is bitter-sweet. Am I destined to listen to the same songs forever if I do not efficiently learn how to control my devices to harness the plethora of choices the long tail has to offer?

Relating to "Search Costs"

In chapter four of Anderson's "The Long Tail", he mentions that one of the advantages of connecting supply and demand, one of the three economic triggers of reducing the costs of reaching the niches, is reducing "search costs". That rang a bell in my mind of a search for a Cannonball Adderly album that I once had and allowed to be stolen. It was one of my favorite pieces of music, and the album had been a gift from a beloved band director from my early youth. I physically searched retail record stores all around Memphis to no avail. I searched the small independent record and comic book stores around town, where providing the obscure was taken to the level of art, and again I had no success. I implored friends to search in other towns and cities they might visit always assuring them that I would pick up any costs they might incur. Again I struck out. This physical search went on for years, but I was very determined. Part of the problem was that the album was out of print and the label had never sold the master for distribution, and they seemed not to care to do so themselves. Finally one day, after I had had my pc for a while, my brother suggested to me that I search online for the album. I immediately began my search and, to my surprise and delight, I found not only several copies of the album, but also found out that the label - Columbia - had finally decided to re-publish the album on cd. Within days I had a copy of "Domination" by Cannonball Adderly, with orchestra directed by Oliver Nelson, playing much too loudly in my apartment. Suffice it to say that I was hooked on using the "Long Tail" from that day forward.

What is Media 2.0?

I like that the title of this blog is a consistent question. What is this class we are taking about? The fact that Media 2.0 is constantly evolving is part of the mystery of what it is. How it acts to empower, how it acts to change the status quo. What it all means or doesn't mean.

I came of age in the age of the media moguls, the end of the newspaper era of supremacy. I have worked in newspapers and in retail, brushing against the walls that were erected to keep voices homogenized and relegated to the letters to the editor section of the weekly rag. I have seen the change from the days when people trusted absolutely anything if it was printed in the newspaper to the days when we can sort and search out news before determining what it is we believe. From the days when you had to go to the library or the bookstore for a good read. Now, you know, you don't have to just read, you can also write. You can post in the little box, words which immediately become part of the record. That record may or may not be inaccessible. It may not be the legal screed. It may waver in the light, may be editted or changed. It may be secluded behind firewalls or tossed out for anyone to read. Be careful what you post because it may come back to see you years from now. Write on. I like this writing in boxes much better than that reading in the dark alone at night. I love books but I much prefer the ebb and flow of writing and reading as a daily task to holding a book in my hands and reading it alone. I like a book that writes me back.

Is new always better?

As a huge variety of new channels to spread media content evolve, everybody seems to get his share of the pie. Traditionally, powerful news and entertainment corporations and media enterprises decided on which content every one of us would be able to receive, taking a decisive role as information gatekeepers. But since a decade, channels like Youtube, Flickr, Dropbox, Blogs oder Twitter open up a variety of chances to participate in creating and distributing news and entertainment contents. In my opinion, that is basically an advance, as for example it gives artists or subcultural movements a voice and lets them publish their work and footage more easily and for free. But I also do have doubts, for example in terms of the shortcomings of journalistic quality in news reporting, for instance via Twitter. What do you think? Do the new channels of communication really constitute a democratization of news distribution?

Where do I get my news and entertainment content from?

The most of my news and entertainment content comes from online sources. Normally it depends, which information I want to receive. If I’m interested in sport news, I visit pages like www.sport1.de (German sport broadcaster), because they have their focus on sport. If I want to know more about new songs or new entertainment content, Youtube is my first choice, because they have a huge database with songs and videos. For getting information about what happens in the whole world, I go to the page www.tagesschau.de/ (German public broadcaster). All in all, there are almost infinite numbers of news or entertainment sides in the internet.

But sometimes I’m a little bit afraid about those huge numbers of online sides. I get any information anytime and anyplace. But what’s about the traditional media, such as newspapers or radio. Do they have a chance to reach the “digital natives”, people, who are growing up with digitalization? Or will the internet replace them in the future?

Daniel Fritsch

On: The Long Tail

In reading "The Long Tail" I kinda' feel as if I could have written a chapter of the book myself. There are a lot of stats about the decline of the entertainment industry over the last 10 years, and none of it can be disputed. As an industry insider for some years now, I would add my two-cent to the mix. While it is true that new technology has spelled ruin for former mainstrem entertainment outlets, part of the blame for this downfall can be traced to the lack of content. That is to say, homogenized music (Andreson's example of the Boy-Bands)removed the individual creativity of the music produced for the popular culture. Just as the failed football league that was created by NBC and the WWF focused on the non-essential elements of the game, under-estimating the sophistication of football fans, the music industry did the same. Anderson states that "Most of the top 50 best-selling albums of all time were recorded in the 70's & 80's and none after 2000". Part of the magic of the 60's, 70's, & 80's music was the many different styles that were produced. Each singer or band had an individual style that was unmistakable to even the most casual listener. Part of the downfall of traditional entertaiment - particularly music - has to be blamed on executives and marketing managers under-estimating the sophistication of their audience.