Gladwell, Malcolm. "The Tipping Point." 2000: Little Brown & Co.

Like Chris Anderson's Long Tail, Malcolm Gladwell's concept of a sociological "tipping point" is a useful term in any discussion about marketing on the internet. "The Tipping Point" is a sociological analysis of different types of key consumers: connectors, mavens, and salesmen. Gladwell uses these terms and other definitions of "tipping" and "stickiness" to explain instances of small ideas or materials becomining unexpectedly popular as they reach a "tipping point."

Though Gladwell does not remark explictly on the internet, I believe that his concepts are crucial to the way that the internet spreads information about musicians. Much of my discussion on online marketing and non-industry-regulated profitability is tempered by the understanding of internet marketing efforts as definitionally "grassroots." "The Tipping Point" is an analysis of grassroots marketing efforts, and my hope is that when Gladwell's concepts are lent to examinations of popularity and profitability of independent musicians on the internet, useful trends will be derived. For example, why would Radiohead benefit from a pay-what-you-want model, while an indpendent artist might not? And if an independent artist like Girl Talk does reach a "tipping point" via internet exposure, the ways in which they expand on these internet "grassroots" methods are major contributing factors to success. Gladwell's discussion offers some terminology to explain why.

And yet, American copyright holders still try their best to limit what kinds of fan fiction can be easily found online, in hopes of keeping some control over the perception (or decency) of their brand. None have tried to actually take a sexually explicit fan fiction author to court for fear of alienating fans and setting the wrong precedent, but they have tried to quash such expression. And the more affinity towards the fanbase, the more the fans will be willing to censor themselves in order to please their benevolent masters (of the copyright).

On page 155 (chapter 4), Jenkins mentions "song videos" as a form of fan fiction. He talks about fan fiction here in contrast to the kind of fan productions LucasFilm endorses, which can only be parody-flavored or about the fans themselves. "Song videos" are often the kind of production preferred by female fans, who take the time to explore and develop certain relationships and themes that may or may not have been present in the original work. LucasFilm acts along the same lines as the law might approach various kinds of derivative works-though it is comfortable with parodies, anything that might be seen as "expanding upon" the original universe could technically be illegal derivative work and therefore to be avoided. The difference between monolithic character properties such as Harry Potter and Star Wars and an entire (niche) medium is also very important to note. Unlike the more specific fan cultures, the anime fan culture is both less mainstream (and therefore even more dependant on the loyal and active few) and unable to be corralled and manipulated by one corporate body. Since an entire genre of cinema and comics are the focus and instead of one copyrightable property, lots of varying interests are at stake and no single one can control fans as a whole.