Movies + Music: No Long Tail, Please

Lauren Schuker reports in the Wall Street Journal that GE's Universal Pictures has sold off its Rogue Pictures specialist label, "signaling that the major Hollywood studios are continuing to shift away from the specialty movie business. [T]oday's box office," she says, "favors big franchise films over more serious adult fare." Isn't this exactly what we can expect from the "major" music labels as well? The current business climate leaves no room for a robust A&R function, grooming a pool of potential future stars, or the production of more "serious" niche fare. Only the fattest "head" of the Long Tail (ie superstar clientele) will work for the majors -- all else will be left, more and more, to the independents. And therein lies the opportunities.