

The Louis CK Experiment was Great, but this approach is not sustainable - puranjay
http://startupdispatch.com/opinion/what-you-can-learn-from-the-louis-c-k-experiment/

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Ravenlock
"Imagine what would happen if Jimmy Carr, Dave Chappelle, Zach Galifinakis,
Will Ferrell, and every other comedian in town started dropping specials every
two weeks. Would you still be as willing to rush out and whip out your credit
card for the sake of an ‘experiment’? Or would the medium’s novelty soon wear
off and every new release will be greeted with the same response as a new
release in the real, physical world?"

Well, I'd certainly be more willing to pull out my credit card for a $5 charge
than I am for a $20 charge, which means it'd still be more successful with me
than it is on the shelves at Walmart. And since I've never purchased a comedy
DVD from anyone but threw down $5 without hesitation for Louis CK's special,
it's infinitely more successful than the physical model in my case already.

How often would I do that? No idea. Depends how many comedians I really wanted
to support, how often they put stuff out, and how my finances were looking at
the time. But all three of those factors equally impact their chances at my
money in "the real, physical world" (which is an utterly stupid phrase in this
context, btw - he made $250,000 very real dollars in 4 days), and I'm still
more likely to spend $5 than $20.

The only variable here is exposure. Can Louis (or other people who want to try
the same) reach enough people using non-corporate-media methods to make up the
difference between a $5 sale and a $20 sale, or can't they? Obviously a brand
new talent isn't going to have the success with it that Louis CK does, but a
brand new talent, with the rarest exception, isn't getting shelf space at
Walmart either.

This strikes me as a lot of doom and gloom over nothing. He paid for
production costs with ticket sales for the live show. He made back his money
on putting the thing online more or less instantly. Will it work for everyone?
Of course not, nothing works for everyone. But I bet it'll work for him again
the next time he does it.

~~~
dfxm12
Nice reply. Here is some additional food for thought: _make up the difference
between a $5 sale and a $20 sale_ This implies that Louis CK makes all $20
form that DVD sale. He stated in an NPR interview that he normally sees zero
dollars from a TV special.

The author seems to assume that content owners _aren't_ out to screw the
talent and pay fair royalties, etc. This isn't the case. What we can learn
here is that the Internet levels the playing field a bit. Contrary to what the
author would have you think, all kinds of bands are making more money selling
music directly to their audience than they ever could being jerked around by a
record label. Yes, they aren't making as much money as a well established act,
but _they weren't going to anyway._

~~~
Ravenlock
True. I'm also a little confused by the "every two weeks" part of his initial
question that I quoted.

Would I buy a $5 special every two weeks? No, but I wasn't going to buy a $20
special every 8 weeks, either, and Louis made $250,000 PROFIT in FOUR DAYS. He
doesn't need to do this every two weeks or every month or even every six
months (nor could he; he edits it all himself). Would I pay $5 every year for
a new special from Louis CK? I certainly would.

Now, I guess the more logical way to interpret what the author wrote is "what
if, between all the comedians, these things were dropping every 2 weeks?", but
that's no different than what you have now, except it's physical media, a
higher price, and a slightly more spread out timeline. In both cases, people
will buy the stuff from the people they really like and want to support, and
prioritize their spending along those lines.

Though actually I would argue that if 4 comedians get $5 out of me, that's
better for all 4 of them (assuming I'm part of a larger audience) than if one
of them got some cut of $20.

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junklight
First off - _most_ people in any entertainment industry - music , books ,
comedy etc. are not making megabucks. Most of them earn somewhere between an
ok wage and a pretty rubbish one.

However there are plenty of people experimenting like Louie C K is up and down
the spectrum. I buy lots of stuff from people who are doing their own thing.
To pick some random smaller examples - <http://www.dgmlive.com> \- King
Crimson and Robert Fripp, Matt Stevens <http://www.mattstevensguitar.com> and
Richard Skelton <http://www.sustain-release.co.uk/>

Do they make megabucks? of course not but they are making a living.

The question actually is - are they getting more return for their work than if
they used more traditional channels and I think all would argue that they are.

Not only is this approach sustainable - it's going to become essential for all
but the most mainstream. Louie CK and Radio head possibly suggest that even
the more mainstream will do better doing it on their own terms.

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AndrewDucker
It doesn't have to provide the same money for non-famous comedians - it just
has to provide at least as much as they would have got selling their show in
other ways.

As they would have sold less if they'd gone the DVD route, they'll sell less
in this route too. The only question is whether they come out of it as well.

