Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
1–10 of 140 posts
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#2One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users.
Also, I was kind of upset by the "letter" that the person who uploaded the torrent wrote. "Art is meant to be shared"? Why bother justifying it with something that sounds stupid when you could just say nothing or say, "I thought people might want to get it this way, so here it is". Depressing.
And finally, I never realized that Louis C.K. was so mainstream. I thought his humor appealed to me and maybe three other people. Oh well :)
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#3This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#4One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users. Also, I was kind of upset by the "letter" that the person who uploaded the torrent wrote. "Art is meant to be shared"? Why bother justifying it with something that sounds stupid when you could…
re: DRM, I wouldn't call it a factual error. The article didn't imply that it's not possible, it just said it was harder. And I'd argue stripping DRM (no matter how easy it is) is, is in fact harder than not bothering.
re: Popularity, I thought so too, until I had to wait on a long, long line to see him in Caroline's over two years ago. I was lucky enough to snag tickets to the Beacon theater show (that he's selling now) and it sold out in minutes. He also did 3 consecutive shows in Brooklyn, NY, tickets to which were announced the day of practically and not a single person I know got tickets (and many, many tried). I heard lines wrapping the block more than once. I've never seen this kind of commitment to a comedian.
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#5This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.
First, I think what Louis is doing is amazing and am a huge fan. Having said that however, how many other comedians can pull this off? He has a very large, very dedicated audience. Likewise for music. Trent Reznor can pull off very successful self-productions, but he's also Trent Reznor.
The question is, how can you make this model scale down to lesser-known acts?
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#6This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.
Not to mention he has total control over the look and presentation of the material (editing, lighting, no commercials) because it's his money.
The content provider used to pay for the special, but now comedians are paying that cost up front and then selling the rights to air it. The next step is that the comedians just distribute their material themselves. (I'm sure there's a start-up opportunity there!)
This is inevitable because comedians are realizing that podcasts, not mass media TV or radio, are the best way to reach their audience for live shows, merch and record content income. In my opinion it's also because comedians can foster engagement with their fans on a deeper level than musicians because they are talking right to them.
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#7One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users. Also, I was kind of upset by the "letter" that the person who uploaded the torrent wrote. "Art is meant to be shared"? Why bother justifying it with something that sounds stupid when you could…
"One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users."
That's hardly a "factual error". I can email an mp3 to my friend and have them play it. I can't do the same with a DRM'd song. Is that not harder? Instead I have to make extra efforts to strip the DRM or find a non-DRM'd version elsewhere. For non-technical users, it might actually be "hard" to pirate DRM'd content.
While the article could/should have taken care to make the subtle point that you allude to, I find it's phrasing less disingenuous than yours.
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#8One factual error that the article makes is that DRM'd content is harder to pirate. That is simply not the case; every piece of content ever released is easily pirate-able. The only thing that DRM does is hurt legitimate users. Also, I was kind of upset by the "letter" that the person who uploaded the torrent wrote. "Art is meant to be shared"? Why bother justifying it with something that sounds stupid when you could…
> I never realized that Louis C.K. was so mainstream. I thought his humor appealed to me and maybe three other people.
Well, he does have his own show on FX.
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#9This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.
Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.
People said the same when Radiohead self-released their album. But the problem is that both Radiohead and Louis CK have benefited from EMI and Comedy Central boosting their profile for years.
A new artist can't release their own work and achieve these levels of success.
Re: Louis C.K. "I've never seen a check from a [TV] comedy special"
#10This most important piece here is that he's already broken even. Wow! I'd love to see the numbers comparing a Comedy Central production and Louis' self funded production. I bet there's countless areas of negligent spending in the CC production.
First, I think what Louis is doing is amazing and am a huge fan. Having said that however, how many other comedians can pull this off? He has a very large, very dedicated audience. Likewise for music. Trent Reznor can pull off very successful self-productions, but he's also Trent Reznor. The question is, how can you make this model scale down to lesser-known acts?
In books, the answer is to sell eBooks priced at impulse levels, then sell thousands or millions of copies.
For instance, the #5 seller on the Kindle is a $1 book: http://www.amazon.com/Wife-by-Wednesday-ebook/dp/B005SJLB24/...