This is obviously great news, but I really hope he has plans to take it to the next step. It's great that an incredibly successful comedian can get away this this, but nothing will really change in the long run unless smaller acts have access to this direct-to-consumer approach as well, and that will only happen if someone like Louis CK goes out of his way to share the network, tools, and process that he's developed. It doesn't sound like that's something he's interested in doing (he wants to be a comedian, not an entrepreneur), but maybe he's just taking baby steps and he hopes to get there eventually.
Even though the purchase page is on etix.com, it shares all chrome with his site, and the tickets don't seem to appear in any public listings or directories elsewhere. Presumably, there's still a charge, it's just small, and included in the pricing model (along with taxes).
Obviously, it would be awesome if this works out and etix.com (or someone else) makes this low-fee approach more accessible to other performers.
I could be wrong, but I don't think that the actual ticket sales are the hard part with something like this. I think that building a network of venues, and producing and promoting your own tour are probably much more difficult. I think Louis CK could probably help a lot of people out without ever building any software or even offering a product.
EDIT: I definitely agree that etix gaining traction would be a great step in the right direction.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. I think the Kickstarter has done a lot to facilitate direct-to-consumer business models. Sure, Kickstarter is a tool used by creators to reach their audience, just like Gmail is a tool I use to communicate with my clients. Kickstarter and Gmail are both middle-men in a sense, but they certainly work with the direct-to-consumer model.
Louis CK seems particularly well suited for something like this because he seems to be content with the amount of money he has. He could do a lot to improve the entertainment industry by sharing his knowledge without necessarily building a business around it.
