So a few months back the comedian Louis CK announced that he would be doing a small media experiment. The concept was this: that he had performed and filmed two live shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York, which were then packaged as an hour long special, which could be bought on his website for a mere $5. Not only would he be selling it on his own channel (buy.louisck.net), he would be selling it without any of the DRM measures typically used by studios to limit the ability to pirate material. Louis funded the whole experiment himself, paying for the theatre time, the production crew, the music and distribution. He built for himself, very quickly, a totally vertically integrated business model.
The remarkable thing about this experiment is not that it worked, but that it’s proof positive of what Horace might describe as a low end disruption of traditional media. Through a process of disintermediation, Louis managed to pull in over $1m worth of revenue, an astounding figure given the rather low production costs, in the order of $200k.
What’s the point of all this? The technology which has fundamentally changed the way we think about sharing, liking, experiencing – some of the very matter of storytelling itself – now has the potential to empower artists to reap a monetary reward long sought after. An individual can create the product, get it to market, promote and distribute it with comparatively very little effort. It’s astounding.
I’m glad the experiment happened, and I’m glad it was a success. I’ve given my $5, and I’ll tell you it was worth every cent. Louis may not be your taste in humour, but in his humility, openness, frank honesty and ambition to shake things up and innovate in a rather stagnant media environment – he’s succeeded.
I’m looking forward to the next special. If your interest has been piqued, you can get a copy for yourself here.
