Shortening the Long Tail

Interesting review in the New Yorker this week, covering Professor Anita Elberse's book Blockbusters. I have not read the book itself, but the review describes Elberse as a long-tail skeptic. In particular, the question is whether the long tail, as popularized by Chris Anderson, will supplant the blockbuster/swing-for-the-fences model of success in businesses such as books and movies. Elberse argues that although Net-based models enable more choices, "the vast majority of the revenue remains in the head" - that is, the big-name mega-million hits that characterized books, movies, records, etc for most of the last century. If anyone reads the book and has an opinion please let us know.