What's going on here?
Using ticketing services such as Eventbrite and Etix, performers can take control of the sale of tickets to their fans. Tired of high service fees and resellers who jack up ticket prices, Louis CK has lined up over 50 performances in 39 cities.
The comedian announced Monday, June 25, that he'll charge a flat, no-fee rate of $45 to all of the shows on a 39-city tour he kicks off in October. Tickets will bypass ticketing services and be available only through louisck.com.
The tweet speaks for itself: Appearing in venues that hold an average audience of nearly 2,000, 100,000 tickets have been sold in two days. We now know that this comedian considers his line of work an agrarian occupation: he develops new material each year by going on the road, then creates a video at the end that he sells.
Here's part of his pitch:
"So here's all where I'm coming on this tour. Click on the right to buy tickets. You can't get them ANYWHERE but here. So no crazy high ticket fees, no scalpers, no annoying emails, no joining a thing that you hate."
Performers interested in this approach can work with the services mentioned and can contact Bitmenu to sell their digital media at customerservice@bitmenu.com.
UPDATE (7/2/12): The Atlantic weighs in with more details.
