Jason Eaton
10-19-2006, 09:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/Universal+Music+finds+long+tail+for+old+albums/2100-1027_3-6126536.html' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Universal+Music+finds+long+tail+for+old+albums/2100-1027_3-6126536.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Older songs no longer sold in stores, including a Greek singer's 2000 Christmas album, have been downloaded 250,000 times since February as part of a broad initiative by Universal Music Group to exhume its archives. The most popular of the 3,000 tracks made available in digital-only form on online services such as Apple Computer's iTunes was Gun's 1994 U.K. hit "Word Up" and the most popular album was Big Country's "Steeltown," which was released in 1984. The seven-month sales, disclosed by Universal on Tuesday, represent a fresh example of the "long tail" theory that low sales of many products can collectively create a huge market, particularly in the digital age where costs are lower.”</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/steeltown.jpg" /> <br /><br />It is good to see that back catalogue artists are becoming more readily available as digital downloads options for consumers. While the sales may not top the new ‘Pop’ album it is refreshing to see that these artist won’t potentially get lost in the media transition.