Research Note - Music Blogging, Online Sampling, and the Long Tail

O social media such as blogs are transforming how consumers make consumption decisions, and the music industry is at the forefront of this revolution. Based on data from a leading music blog aggregator, we analyze the relationship between music blogging and full-track sampling, drawing on theories of online social interaction. Our results suggest that intensity of music sampling is positively associated with the popularity of a blog among previous consumers and that this association is stronger in the tail than in the body of music sales distribution. At the same time, the incremental effect of music popularity on sampling is also stronger in the tail relative to the body. In the last part of the paper, we discuss the implications of our results for music sales and potential long-tailing of music sampling and sales. Put together, our analysis sheds new light on how social media are reshaping music sharing and consumption.