louie's lucky after all
Why is this fat bastard smiling? Louis C.K.'s Internet comedy special rakes inthe bucks
Comedian Louis C.K.'s grand experiment in media distribution has more than paid off.
In a post on his website, the comic said he had sold more than 110,000 copies of his groundbreaking special, Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater.
Available exclusively online for only $5, the Digital Rights Management-free production (meaning, you can do whatever you want with your purchased file) cost him $170,000 to film, plus $32,000 to build the site it was hosted on. In just 12 hours, 50,000 fans bought a copy, netting the comic roughly $250,000. Excluding Paypal fees, that money went directly to his production company, Pig Newton, Inc.
Maybe that fat bastard is on to something.
In just 12 hours, 50,000 fans bought a copy of Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater, netting the comic roughly $250,000.
The success of direct-to-the-people distribution has increased rapidly in recent years, gaining its first major breakthrough in 2007 when Radiohead released its album, In Rainbows, using the format. The band — like C.K. — bypassed the constraints of major studios and made the album the way they wanted, retaining complete ownership of the product. This model encourages the truest form of artistic integrity, as the product is made solely by the content creator for the fans, without any corporate influence.
Comedians and musicians aren’t the only ones capitalizing on the allure of “Hey, this only costs a few bucks and I get to directly support the artist?” Video game distribution company Steam has embraced this philosophy since 2003, and although they have never released sales figures, a former competitor estimates the company controlled 70% of the digital distribution market. With over 1,400 games available and 35 million active users, Steam has absolutely blown up in recent years. This is in no small part due to the software’s ease of use, restrained use of DRM, affordable pricing and overall user-centric philosophy.
For the most part, direct distribution by established artists benefits them as much as it does the fans. Without studio executives constantly hovering over their shoulders, the artists are free to develop their craft in whatever way they see fit. They can say whatever they want or breach whatever topics they want without fear of being censored. And really, what better way to gauge interest in a particular art than to sell it directly to consumers?
This business model has a long way to go before it can rid artists of the creative hindrances imposed by corporate interests, but thanks to the success of Louis CK’s Live at the Beacon Theater, at least others will see it can be done — and pay off. Who knew that bypassing old media gateways is not only possible, but profitable?
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Buy Louis C.K.’s hour-long special here, and read his full blog post explaining its success here.
