I recently downloaded and watched Jim Gaffigan’s special Mr. Universe. (Availalbe at jimgaffigan.com for $5). This show is 75 minutes of new material from the guy who analyzed the mysterious hot pockets, Christmas decorations, bowling and much more.
Mr. Universe is great. It’s really funny. You can watch it with your kids, your grandma and any truckers that you might know. It’s really great.
Part of the greatness of this project is how Gaffigan is going about selling it. Louis C.K. recently sold his latest special online for $5. Aziz Ansari did followed suit, and now Jim Gaffigan is selling Mr. Universe for $5 through his website. Instead of giving the distribution control to a network like Comedy Central. Gaffigan, Louis and Aziz are all taking control of getting their content directly to their fans. It’s like magic.
Comedians are not the only ones who are taking the content management into their own hands. Authors, film makers, musicians all have the ability to take their projects that they slaved over and can now sell them directly to the consumer.
The real magic of it all is that the artist is trusting their fans to respect the process. They are often releasing their projects without DRM (digital rights management) and simply asking their fans to not steal from them.
The real test is will this all work? We have to wait and see. But It’s still pretty amazing.
Here’s the question for you, what are you making that you would love to sell? Do you have a book, movie, art, crafts, or whatever that you would like to sell? What’s keeping you from doing it?
