I'd like you to Compare and Contrast what two different artists did about the perceived problem of someone else making money off their products
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I don't think I can offer an opinion because I do not understand how Louis CK if enforcing the price. The difference between the two boils down to a free vs fixed economy, capitalism vs the fiscal aspect of communism/socialism. When applied to a single product, there isn't a meaningful difference and since the products are different in a very meaningful way, there isn't a fair comparison
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Right. The idea of selling all the tickets on eBay had occurred to me. And of course, the expiration date makes a HUGE difference in enforcement scenarios. I don't even know how you'd differentiate between an LP flipper on eBay and a genuine fan who is selling off possessions for quick money.
I'd guess Louis C.K., or someone he hires, trawls newspapers and Craigslist and eBay and similar sites for scalpers.
Right, and then what? I mean, how does the ticket get invalidated? Are they serial numbered? If so, is the number disclosed prior to sale? Sounds like an awful lot of work, the sort of work for which one might need, oh, a middle-man of some sort. :). I'm sure there's a more clever and less complex mechanism to it.
Tickets are *always* identified and tracked, because of counterfeiters.
When I said it was him or someone he hired, I also thought the middleman might have agreed to do this for a fee, or that it might be software automated. Trawling Craigslist for key words is simple; I have an app on my phone that will do it in seconds, nationwide.
I think you're making this out to be harder than it has to be.
I'm having trouble answering for a different reason: this seems too apples-and-oranges to me. A record is a tangible item, and once it leaves the record manufacturer, that's it, it's out of their hands. The ticket OTOH is tracked electronically for its entire life and can be cancelled at any time.
That said, I think Jack White's approach sounds a bit cynical. Plus it has a flaw: the people winning the auctions might be flippers, who then turn around sell the record at an *even higher* price.
Also, these thought experiments might make it easier for you to compare:
Louis C.K. is deliberately charging less than the market will bear and preventing others from taking advantage of this. If he were selling the tickets on eBay and getting closer to a true market value, would that make the comparison easier for you? Would you prefer that he do that?
Or if Jack White had some magical way of confirming that everyone who bought the albums were really a fan, would you prefer that he use it and keep the prices low, or do you prefer that he let the market decide?
If such a magical way existed? Sure, I would prefer Mr. White do that. But there is no such way. The law has been pretty clear for quite a while that a physical object of reasonably long-term usefulness is the owner's property to buy and sell as he pleases. For concert tickets, they have had systems for several years now that already make it extremely difficult to resell your tickets unless there is a GREAT amount of trust between buyer and seller.
So, I didn't vote. I respect both artists and I think they are solving different problems. Incidentally, I especially love Louis CK and have purchased every audio and video recording he offers on his site (which is to say, I have given him 15 whole dollars for 3 entire performances, one in both audio and HD video form). As the article you linked mentioned, he has made a TON of money offering the people what they want: very low cost DRM-free digital recordings.
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I'd guess Louis C.K., or someone he hires, trawls newspapers and Craigslist and eBay and similar sites for scalpers.
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When I said it was him or someone he hired, I also thought the middleman might have agreed to do this for a fee, or that it might be software automated. Trawling Craigslist for key words is simple; I have an app on my phone that will do it in seconds, nationwide.
I think you're making this out to be harder than it has to be.
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That said, I think Jack White's approach sounds a bit cynical. Plus it has a flaw: the people winning the auctions might be flippers, who then turn around sell the record at an *even higher* price.
Reply
Reply
Louis C.K. is deliberately charging less than the market will bear and preventing others from taking advantage of this. If he were selling the tickets on eBay and getting closer to a true market value, would that make the comparison easier for you? Would you prefer that he do that?
Or if Jack White had some magical way of confirming that everyone who bought the albums were really a fan, would you prefer that he use it and keep the prices low, or do you prefer that he let the market decide?
Reply
So, I didn't vote. I respect both artists and I think they are solving different problems. Incidentally, I especially love Louis CK and have purchased every audio and video recording he offers on his site (which is to say, I have given him 15 whole dollars for 3 entire performances, one in both audio and HD video form). As the article you linked mentioned, he has made a TON of money offering the people what they want: very low cost DRM-free digital recordings.
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