Louis CK makes a million dollars in ten days

[Thorin]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/22/technology/louis_ck_million/index.htm?iid=HP_River

The gist is that a comedian named Louis CK got sick of the middlemen getting all the money, so he recorded a standup show and sold it online directly from him for five bucks a download (drm-free).  After ten days, 220,000 people had paid $5 to download it.

Read the article to find out what he did with all that money...

[Lazybones]

I have to wonder if the"impulse purchase" aspect is tied to the currently novel distribution idea.. IE if it became common for lots of content would people still pay.

[Mr. Analog]

Holy doodle! But again, proves that with teh interwebs you don't really need a distributor to get your work out.

Oddly enough yesterday I was looking for a game soundtrack .torrent and found instead that the musician behind the music offered a "pay what you want" download, it was just so easy I couldn't pass it up so I paid $10 ('cause that's what I figure the music AND the convenience was worth to me) and downloaded it. A nice DRM free zip file.

If all musicians made it so easy!

[Thorin]

I have to wonder if the"impulse purchase" aspect is tied to the currently novel distribution idea.. IE if it became common for lots of content would people still pay.

Uhh, aren't artists and Apple making millions upon millions due to easy distribution?  Sure, it's not entirely the same because Apple is taking a cut for the distribution, but nowadays indie artists can release on iTunes without a middleman beyond Apple, can't they?

[Tom]

It's all about the convenience and reasonable prices. I don't get why the Labels don't get that people WILL pay for stuff, if you give them what they want.

[Darren Dirt]

I have to wonder if the"impulse purchase" aspect is tied to the currently novel distribution idea.. IE if it became common for lots of content would people still pay.

It's similar to what Stephen King did with his "episodic" e-book a while ago. In both cases there's a huge fan-base that is computo-literate, and willing to micro-purchase especially if it's part of a time-limited internet-event.

Also not much different than Radiohead a while ago (or was it NIN*? I guess sorta both?) where they offered some variant of a DRM-free album before it hit stores, pay-what-you-want or similar.





PS: anyone who has kids will likely vicariously enjoy the [sometimes shockingly bold] dark humour of Louis CK standup from the past 10 years (i.e. not his "early stuff"), you can relate to the "unacceptable" thoughts and feelings that he shares in his routine. Plenty of clips on Youtube.



*yikes@rabidfanbase: "The album's initial release on the official Nine Inch Nails website suffered problems as the website was inundated with traffic, and was not fully operational until extra servers were added to handle the influx of downloads. A week after the album's release, the official Nine Inch Nails site reported over 750,000 purchase and download transactions, amassing over $1.6 million in sales. Pre-orders of the $300 "Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition" sold out in less than 30 hours of its release, and grossed $750,000 overall"

[Darren Dirt]

recorded a standup show and sold it online directly from him for five bucks a download (drm-free).  After ten days, 220,000 people had paid $5 to download it.

just realized this kinda reminds me of what Russell Peters described him and his brother doing, towards the end of his book (library ftw!) ... he was sick of producers and promoters and other suits giving him the shaft when he could just as easily provide their services himself.


and gotta love his attitude: "I never viewed money as being 'my money' I always saw it as 'The money.' It's a resource. if it pools up around me then it needs to be flushed back out into the system," he wrote. "If I make another million, I'll give more of it away."



PS: kids, you gotta love 'em.

[Darren Dirt]

Louis should start a new site for comics, call it CicKstarter!



http://www.whosay.com/jimgaffigan/content/218011

http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/15/tctv-interview-jim-gaffigan-on-his-upcoming-download-only-comedy-special/

Like Louis CK before him, Gaffigan just announced that he?s filming a comedy special in DC next month and will make it available for a $5 download ? with one dollar going to The Bob Woodruff Foundation, an association to help wounded veterans and their families.

[Darren Dirt]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/why-every-sopa-opponent-should-buy-jim-gaffigans-new-comedy-album/

[Darren Dirt]

http://www.whosay.com/jimgaffigan/content/218011

I am confident that the low price of my new comedy special and the fact that 20% of each $5 download will be donated to this very noble cause will prevent people from stealing it. Maybe I?m being na?ve, but I trust you guys. Besides who would want the karma of stealing money from wounded Veterans? Come on you guys. How dare you even think about it?

[Darren Dirt]

May 14th 2012 -- another recent Reddit Q&A.
http://www.funnyordie.com/lists/b002c158cd/answers-from-louis-ck-s-latest-q-a-on-reddit

nice to see one of the funniest of today's lesser-known comics start to get more and more "mainstream" attention.



also, he has a wise (and familiar ) outlook on technology timesinks such as Facebook:

[Darren Dirt]

He is such a fascinating individual, not just funny, but smart and deep, and open and honest about his whole process and the journey he underwent...

Paley interview in like 7 parts or something -- engrossing stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dfl1v3573w&list=SPU4DWjN4gSDEOx6ZxrSC0-YAxJC2rW-Oy



and hey if you've been meaning to watch Lucky Louie, here's the first 13 episodes...
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjIgCpVvKiPm-8g3C04a3Sx8c6N5zFe05

[Darren Dirt]

and hey if you've been meaning to watch Lucky Louie, here's the first 13 episodes...
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjIgCpVvKiPm-8g3C04a3Sx8c6N5zFe05

( or instead of YouTube, of course there's the old dependable streaming site "Project Free TV" , http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/internet/lucky_louie/ -- there was only a single season, 13 episodes )