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Louis CK does it again - 2 audio shows without DRM at $5 each
- middus 14y agoI just bought both. You'll get 4 downloads for each show and can download MP3 and/or FLAC. Quality seems pretty good to me, but I'm not an audiophile.
- fromhet 14y ago"You get 4 downloads" Why limit it? It seems totally against the point. Why not even let people download a torrent and they can get the video on as many devices as they please and it wont even stress his servers.
- Pkeod 14y agoDistributing by torrent is different from providing a quality download service with purchase. If someone really wants to download by torrent and wait then what's stopping them from paying and then doing that. Limiting number of downloads protects their bandwidth from would be jerks. Protecting their service is important for their customers to have a quality experience. It's fair, and most people will only ever download once. If they for some reason use up all 4 downloads and want more they should e-mail them. Why wouldn't give more if some had a genuinely good reason for using up their downloads?
- Anirak 14y agoI could see myself using that up legitimately over the course of my life. Now, of course, you could argue that the servers aren't expected to be up that long, but even over the next 5 years I could see myself doing that: I have a work computer and a home computer. I download them on both. My home computer fucks up and I have to reformat, so I re-download it (I forgot to back up this particular performance). I'm at a friend's house and I want to play a sample for him (which he later buys). Now I'm up to my four, and they were all legitimate uses. They should pad it enough that someone who paid for it could download it liberally (~20) but mass distribution of the link (100+) would fail quickly. And hell, he could even send an email to the owner if the link started receiving a ton of traffic.
- theon144 14y agoTorrent != copyright infringing downloading. What the commenter you're replying to meant was something like what Humble Indie Bundle did - after you buy the bundle, you can also officially and legally download it using bittorrent (as opposed to HTTP), not hitting their servers but rather volunteers.
- trun 14y agoSomewhat related, I think his site has my favorite 'forgot my password' email ever. Apparently you forgot your password? Ok, so here's your new one, stupid: EMAIL: xxxxx@gmail.com PASSWORD: moron.xxxxx
- coffeejunk 14y agohe also released his beacon performance as an audio download.
- jeffool 14y agoAnd those who bought the Beacon video, now get the audio as a choice!
- AgentConundrum 14y agos/a choice/an added bonus/ You get the audio in addition to the video now, whether you buy it now or in the future. Stand up guy.
- jrockway 14y agoWhat's more interesting is that he got HBO to release their content in a DRM-free format. (HBO is the network that previously wouldn't let you buy their online video service unless you already had cable and an HBO subscription, rather defeating the purpose of buying the content online.) This is what fighting piracy looks like.
- tptacek 14y agoPlenty of HBO content is sold a la carte online. But HBO itself is cross-subsidized from cable subscriptions. Their online service is not intended to replace their TV channel, but just augment it.
- lukifer 14y ago"Previously"? Did anything recently change with HBO? (Dear suits: please let me give you money.)
- encoderer 14y agoAlso worth mentioning that they don't "let you buy" their content: it's just all free. All of it. I know it sucks that you can't subscribe to HBO Go without being a cable customer. But for existing HBO users, it's a very, very well done service. The iPad app is gorgeous and well engineered. It has basically every epoisode of every season of every HBO series, all HBO original movies, and as far as I can tell nearly every HBO original documentary, comedy special, etc. And of course all of the movies HBO is currently running in their rotation. HBO on Cable runs about $13 a month. I'm sure they could sell subscriptions just to Go for $20-25. But HBO wants to be a Cable service, not an Internet service. Nothing wrong with that. They're not luddites trying to avoid technology: they're using it very effectively. They're just using it in the way that suits their business model and philosophy.
- georgemcbay 14y ago"HBO on Cable runs about $13 a month." HBO on Cable costs $13 plus whatever your basic cable fees, which after "introductory rates" often means $80/mo or more. Granted, you get more than just HBO then, but in the case that you just want HBO and nothing else there is no sanely priced option.
- blhack 14y agoHere's a thing on conversion: I'm going to be offering other things through this site. Would you like to hear about them? Yes, I'd like to receive further emails about Louis C.K. things. No, leave me alone forever, you fat idiot. No was checked by default, and the phrasing says "Hello, I am a human." I clicked yes.
- AgentConundrum 14y agoI remember when the video came out, the opt-in emailing was a huge deal, and he commented on the response he got to that in pretty much every interview I read from him on the subject. I also opted-in to his mailings, partly because it was opt-in rather than opt-out, and partly because of his tone. He has some great copy for selling comedy videos, and now albums. In the email he sent out about the new audio specials, he had his usual laid back tone, but he also ended with this: > Okay. that was exhausting. Sorry. I didn't even ask you how you are. How are you? Oh yea? Oh good. That's great. What? Oh man. That's tough. I'm sorry... Oh well that sounds like you handled it well, though. So. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know that's... yeah. Well... Just remember, time will go by and that'll just be on the list of shit that happened to you. You'll be okay. Yeah. Huh?... Oh. Really? HE DID? Oh my GOD! hahaha!! That's CRAZY! No. no. I won't tell him you told me. Of course not. Alright well... uhuh? Oh wow. yeah. Alright well.. I really gotta go. Thanks for listening. I'm glad you're basically okay. Stay in touch. > your friend, > Louis C.K. It's almost like treating your customer like a person and not just a wallet with some flesh hanging off of it helps your cause. It's a novel idea to be sure.
- kevingadd 14y agoI've always held the pet theory that a sufficiently human and casual tone can overcome a lot of fatigue/wariness that would otherwise stop people from listening to you. Sometimes, I feel like if you're just completely transparent and honest with the customer, maybe they'll be willing to listen. I never managed to convince anyone to try A/B testing a banner ad that literally just said 'BUY OUR SHIT', though.
- 14y ago
- batista 14y agoA guy self-publishes stuff on the internet. News at 11.
- slig 14y agoHe's not "a guy". He's very famous and has his own TV show that he created, starred, wrote and post-produced on his macbook. Also, he's also selling his stuff, without a middleman, DRM-free and with a very decent price. He is also managing to sell stuff that was from HBO, again, DRM-free and at reasonable price.
- batista 14y ago>He's not "a guy". He's very famous and has his own TV show that he created, starred, wrote and post-produced on his macbook. So, "a famous guy self publishes on the internet". Does that make it MORE news-worthy? Famous guys have been self-publishing on the internet for a long-long time. >Also, he's also selling his stuff, without a middleman, DRM-free and with a very decent price. Like tens of thousands of other artists you mean? They even used to do this pre-internet, e.g. the music tape scene market, or the fanzine market. I don't get what Louis CK does differently than any other. Famous and non-famous people have done exactly the same things before, from Stephen King and Radiohead to thousands of underground bands... And if we remove the absolute "no middleman" rule (which is not exactly true in this case, he pays some service for the payment processing for example), and keep it to mean: "no media company/recording company middleman", then any of the tens of thousands of bands/artists that use a "submit to music stores/process payments" middleman TuneCore, CD Baby, etc are doing the same.
- methodin 14y agoWhat's unique here is the whole package - the personal touch, the cheap product, the honesty and openness. I have never seen anything equivalent on any big-name person/band on the internet. If you have specific examples please share them because the Radiohead experiment was one-off and it has long since ended. Of course small bands/artists have been doing this - they have no choice. Very few people break away from the comfort of big-business checks once they get there to try stuff on their own. You have to remember he could have lost a ton of money if the original experiment failed, but it did not because people respect it and supported it. This is news because it proves DRM-free content at a low price can be a worthy endeavor that supports the artist directly - not because someone is selling shit on a website.
- cnbeuiwx 14y agoI bought Shameless since Louis CK is awesome, and also because his advisors wanted him to put DRM and other crap on the shows and he refused. Totally worth the money.
- antidoh 14y agoDespite the vague "stickin' it to the man, we're all in this together" vibe (which I like), I'll note that his T&C is ten browser page-downs worth of text. Which is fine ...
- ineedafresca 14y agoThis is an excellent marketing case study. He found a segment that is passionate about the issue and launched a product, with simple messaging, that he was uniquely positioned to build, that played directly into that passion. All the little touches, like the "I am a human" are perfect to re-enforce his value prop. Boards like this provide him the virality he eneds to get the word out. This is really startup 101 stuff.
- gerold 14y agoFolks, why do you upvote this? I can see the tech aspect about selling DRM free media, alright. But this link goes straight to a site selling MP3s. In my books thats ADVERTISEMENT. Don't get me wrong, I like Louis CK. But HN is really the wrong platform to exchange random entertainment links. Think about why you like this newsfeed, and help keeping it clean.
- Jugglerofmusic 14y agoYo How come nobody has mentioned teh fact that the "Word - Live from Carnegie Hall" mp3 Files dont work, only the FLAC files work. I know i'm not the only one who had this problem, ive dl'ed on two different computer and my fried said he had the same issues, we had to convert the FLAC files to mp3 format, no mention of this on the site or here. WTF
- Jugglerofmusic 14y agoYo How come nobody has mentioned teh fact that the "Word - Live from Carnegie Hall" mp3 Files dont work, only the FLAC files work. I know i'm not the only one who had this problem, ive dl'ed on two different computer and my fried said he had the same issues, we had to convert the FLAC files to mp3 format, no mention of this on the site or here. WTF