5 ms·

Interesting to see if it worked for Louis C.K. because of his notoriety and popularity or if the model can actually work for everyone.

Dylan16807 15y ago
While that's true I don't think this is a real test case. There is a good bit of difference between a performed audiovisual show and a collection of music tracks.
marquis 15y ago
I think we'll find it comes down to clever marketing. I suspect that this project works because it's a) the first to come off the back of C.K.'s project and b) targeting HN which is usually responsive to innovation. He could probably get some good traction on sites like Reddit right now too. But as soon as we see tens, hundreds of sites like this we'll stop paying attention and need something more new and innovative to get our attention. Is there a socially-charged music site where independent musicians can load their music into a radio station, and get traction by upvotes? While I'd be hesitant to listen to such a radio station at length it could be a way for more musicians to get their better songs listened to.
- blhack 15y ago
  http://bandcamp.com http://bandcamp.com http://cdbaby.com http://cdbaby.com
  - marquis 15y ago
    Does bandcamp have a 'random' radio feed? I was unable to find it. (radio.bandcamp.com leads to a particular band).
- dools 15y ago
  When I did this (I actually did it just before Christmas but didn't post until now because I figured no-one would notice if I did it at Christmas) I actually registered the domain mp3busking.com thinking that if this thing worked, then I could provide a directory of similar artists that have very simple pages where you can directly download DRM free mp3 music and easily pay the artist a couple of bucks. From what I've seen, almost every "indie distribution channel" puts a whole bunch of technology over the top of this that's supposed to make things easier but just sort of acts as a barrier - I really wanted to have this really friction free experience, as close as possible to the process of throwing a couple of bucks in someone's guitar case as possible. PS: I've never been able to figure out how the hell reddit works. Do you know of a sub-reddit that would be a good place to post this thing? I've tried posting to reddit before but I think I always get flagged because I post into the wrong place or something.
  - prawn 15y ago
    FWIW, I didn't listen to any of the tracks because there was no embedded player. That optional extra "friction" might be useful - at least make it an option. You could put up 30 second samples and then a zip of four MP3s behind a cheap Gumroad paywall. That might better approximate Louis CK's setup.
    - dools 15y ago
      Excellent plan, thanks.
toyg 15y ago
The critical factor is always publicity, rather than distribution models. Louis didn't get publicity because he put stuff on the internet, but rather because he had built a following with his previous work, and used that to publicize this effort. He could have spent three months in a glass box suspended on the Hudson river and sold the tape at some random street market, and he would have probably received the same amount of money and attention. The OP knows this very well, and is actually just trying to get publicity by arbitrarily linking his dad's stuff with Louis' name. To be honest, it's quite disgraceful.
- jnbiche 15y ago
  So Louis C.K. riffs on the online world's hatred of DRM, and it's cool, but a fellow programmer riffs on Louis C.K.'s success to help his street-performing musician dad, and it's disgraceful? I think both are cool.
  - toyg 15y ago
    Cool, yes; newsworthy, not really: people have been doing this since 2002 at least. The newsworthy factor for Louis was about a big comedian deserting the old distribution model, something that had mostly been done before only in the music world (Radiohead, Trent Reznor, etc etc). (Even the, it got much more publicity than it really deserved, but that's the magic of showbiz for you.) But this? This is a nobody uploading mp3s on the net. Is this new? No. Is this hacker-related? No. Is this Louis-related? No. It's just a marketing trick. What next, "hey Hacker News, here's my store selling potatoes directly on the internet, I'm doing it like amazon" ?
- EGreg 15y ago
  Louis CK's experiment was hailed by many people as a proof that independent artists can produce themselves and distribute their stuff successfully using the net. What is disgraceful about making an experiment to see if it would work for a non-celebrity?
  - georgemcbay 15y ago
dasil003 15y ago
Can it work for everyone? No. Can it work for some non-A-listers? Yes.

Dylan16807 15y ago

While that's true I don't think this is a real test case. There is a good bit of difference between a performed audiovisual show and a collection of music tracks.

marquis 15y ago

I think we'll find it comes down to clever marketing. I suspect that this project works because it's a) the first to come off the back of C.K.'s project and b) targeting HN which is usually responsive to innovation. He could probably get some good traction on sites like Reddit right now too. But as soon as we see tens, hundreds of sites like this we'll stop paying attention and need something more new and innovative to get our attention. Is there a socially-charged music site where independent musicians can load their music into a radio station, and get traction by upvotes? While I'd be hesitant to listen to such a radio station at length it could be a way for more musicians to get their better songs listened to.

blhack 15y ago
http://bandcamp.com http://bandcamp.com http://cdbaby.com http://cdbaby.com
- marquis 15y ago
  Does bandcamp have a 'random' radio feed? I was unable to find it. (radio.bandcamp.com leads to a particular band).
dools 15y ago
When I did this (I actually did it just before Christmas but didn't post until now because I figured no-one would notice if I did it at Christmas) I actually registered the domain mp3busking.com thinking that if this thing worked, then I could provide a directory of similar artists that have very simple pages where you can directly download DRM free mp3 music and easily pay the artist a couple of bucks. From what I've seen, almost every "indie distribution channel" puts a whole bunch of technology over the top of this that's supposed to make things easier but just sort of acts as a barrier - I really wanted to have this really friction free experience, as close as possible to the process of throwing a couple of bucks in someone's guitar case as possible. PS: I've never been able to figure out how the hell reddit works. Do you know of a sub-reddit that would be a good place to post this thing? I've tried posting to reddit before but I think I always get flagged because I post into the wrong place or something.
- prawn 15y ago
  FWIW, I didn't listen to any of the tracks because there was no embedded player. That optional extra "friction" might be useful - at least make it an option. You could put up 30 second samples and then a zip of four MP3s behind a cheap Gumroad paywall. That might better approximate Louis CK's setup.
  - dools 15y ago
    Excellent plan, thanks.

toyg 15y ago

The critical factor is always publicity, rather than distribution models. Louis didn't get publicity because he put stuff on the internet, but rather because he had built a following with his previous work, and used that to publicize this effort. He could have spent three months in a glass box suspended on the Hudson river and sold the tape at some random street market, and he would have probably received the same amount of money and attention. The OP knows this very well, and is actually just trying to get publicity by arbitrarily linking his dad's stuff with Louis' name. To be honest, it's quite disgraceful.

jnbiche 15y ago
So Louis C.K. riffs on the online world's hatred of DRM, and it's cool, but a fellow programmer riffs on Louis C.K.'s success to help his street-performing musician dad, and it's disgraceful? I think both are cool.
- toyg 15y ago
  Cool, yes; newsworthy, not really: people have been doing this since 2002 at least. The newsworthy factor for Louis was about a big comedian deserting the old distribution model, something that had mostly been done before only in the music world (Radiohead, Trent Reznor, etc etc). (Even the, it got much more publicity than it really deserved, but that's the magic of showbiz for you.) But this? This is a nobody uploading mp3s on the net. Is this new? No. Is this hacker-related? No. Is this Louis-related? No. It's just a marketing trick. What next, "hey Hacker News, here's my store selling potatoes directly on the internet, I'm doing it like amazon" ?
EGreg 15y ago
Louis CK's experiment was hailed by many people as a proof that independent artists can produce themselves and distribute their stuff successfully using the net. What is disgraceful about making an experiment to see if it would work for a non-celebrity?
- georgemcbay 15y ago

dasil003 15y ago

Can it work for everyone? No. Can it work for some non-A-listers? Yes.