Long Tail
Etymology
Coined by "Wired" editor Chris Anderson in a 2004 article and 2006 book. "Tail" is borrowed from statistics — the far, thinning end of a distribution curve — and stretched into a business metaphor for the many low-selling niches that trail off past the hits. The internet made that tail newly profitable to serve.
noun phrase · /lawng tayl/
The large number of low-demand niche items that, added together, can rival or exceed the few blockbuster hits.
What it names
A handle for the business logic of unlimited shelf space: when storage and distribution are cheap, serving countless small niches becomes viable, and the obscure many matter as much as the popular few.
Example
The label survives not on its stars but on its long tail — ten thousand back-catalog tracks each streamed a few hundred times a month.
Related idea
It sits inside a power law: the long tail names the neglected low-demand end specifically, whereas the power law describes the entire lopsided curve.