The Beatles and Harry Potter

Daniel Hall at The Economist ponders why music consumption seems to be following the law of the long tail, whilst book stores rely, more than ever, on blockbusters:

One of my friends proposed a theory I find compelling: Our cultural consumption exists on a spectrum from "individual" to "collective". Technology has shifted the balance for both books and music. Digital distrbitution and the iPod have made music consumption much more individualistic, while the internet and global branding have made book consumption increasingly collective.