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Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: empirical analysis of the market for DVDs

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  • W. Walls

Abstract

This research presents a systematic empirical analysis of the market for digital versatile discs (DVDs). We examine a sample of 953 DVD titles that appeared on the weekly top-30 sales charts in North America over a 30-month interval. We find that the size distribution of weekly DVD sales revenue does not indicate the presence of increasing returns to information. The empirical results for DVD sales contrast starkly with previous results obtained for motion-picture box-office revenue, where a number of researchers have found evidence of positive feedback in demand. While the distribution of cumulative revenues across DVDs is highly unequal, the DVD market appears not to be characterized by the extreme heavy upper tail that so well describes the winner-take-all nature of the distribution of box-office success across motion pictures.
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  • W. Walls, 2010. "Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: empirical analysis of the market for DVDs," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 34(4), pages 261-279, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:34:y:2010:i:4:p:261-279
    DOI: 10.1007/s10824-010-9125-z
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    2. Trilce Navarrete & Karol J. Borowiecki, 2015. "Change in access after digitization: Ethnographic collections in Wikipedia," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-10-2015, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Oct 2015.
    3. Jordi McKenzie, 2023. "The economics of movies (revisited): A survey of recent literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 480-525, April.
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    6. Jordi McKenzie & Vladimir Smirnov, 2018. "Blockbusters and market expansion: evidence from the motion picture industry," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 341-352, May.
    7. Staffan Albinsson, 2013. "Swings and roundabouts: Swedish music copyrights 1980–2009," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 37(2), pages 175-184, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    DVD sales; Winner-take-all; Heavy tails; L82;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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