Once summer rolls in, you won't need to go far to find a good laugh. Laugh.ly, founded by Dave Scott, is set to launch within the coming months to provide a Pandora-like comedy service.
More than 400 comedians are involved with Laugh.ly, and when the service becomes available to the public, its downloadable iOS app will let users to take the laughs on the go. Unlike Pandora, Laugh.ly will stream content from stand-up comics (rather than musicians) ranging from Aziz Ansari to Amy Schumer. It will feature approximately 20,000 tracks, and also act as a platform for emerging comedians to gain exposure.
Scott, who is also the founder of nextplanetover.com and Marketfish, told TechCrunch that content deals were made with comedians directly. Most comedians own the rights to their work, meaning Scott had to reach out to them in order to integrate it all into Laugh.ly. However, Laugh.ly is also set to collaborate with brands such as Uproar and Shout. The goal is to license as much content as possible to make Laugh.ly a one-stop shop for all things comedy.
In terms of its business model, Laugh.ly shares a lot of similarities with services like Pandora. For $7.99 per month, subscribers can choose to eliminate commercials and access content offline. On the other hand, free users will hear advertisements in between tracks. Laugh.ly is also working on bringing exclusive content from comedians to its subscribers. Those who want to stay on top of the service's release can sign up for updates ahead of its launch.
As technology evolves, comedians are gaining numerous platforms to showcase their work and reach wide audiences. Notably, more online specials are debuting on streaming services such as Hulu. However, comedians are also taking to social media platforms like Snapchat and YouTube to deliver the laughs.
Then, of course, there are the self-made comedians and celebrities that have risen to stardom on the same networks. Thanks to apps like Vine, more individuals are breaking into the industry, and many of them happen to be relatively young in age. As they do so, they're raking in the cash, too — Curtis Lepore, a Vine celebrity with more than 4.8 million followers, said in 2014 that it's possible to make as much as six figures per year.
Whether you prefer a streaming service or a social networking app, it's easy to find comedy just about anywhere in the Digital Age.
