But that's my point--playing it yourself is what takes more time, not the obscurity of the music.

It's possible to listen to J-Pop, outside of Japan, for almost as little effort as it takes to listen to local pop on the analog radio. I'd count that as part of the long tail (at least from an American perspective).

Even if you just take the obscurity into account, there is a bit more effort involved. But it's true that we denizens of the Long Tail have used the Internet to make things easier for each other.

My point is that Pop music can get to the point of ubiquity where it takes less than zero effort to get exposed to it. It's just floating out there. The economics drives this.