Last updated 1.18.2018
This is a constantly evolving document that we hope you, dear member of the creative community, find edifying, encouraging, and useful. We discuss two of the most important ways we can help artists — helping you sell tickets and providing you with listener engagement data — before covering other topics in an FAQ format.
Other Useful Links:
– Read an overview of Laughable’s offerings and ambitions
– Read about the “Unified Theory” underlying our efforts
– Read our advice on how to make your podcast ads more impactful and lucrative
– Download the Laughable iPhone app for free
– Sign up to be notified when our Android app is ready
THE LAUGHABLE ANALYTICS SUITE
We wanted to let you know, up front, about our recently launched Laughable Analytics Suite. These are tools that allow you to gain deep insights into your fans and how they’re engaging with your content. In private, we have been providing anonymized engagement data/analysis to dozens of artists over the past few months: data on profile views, fans’ geographic distribution, subscription count, and other metrics. We are now rolling out some of these offerings to the broader community of artists and wanted to let you know about the first major piece to go live: Episode Engagement Timelines.
Laughable’s Episode Engagement Timelines. What Do I Need to Know?
It’s time to move beyond download count as the be-all and end-all metric of podcasting success. Our episode timelines show you exactly what Laughable users actually listen to vs. skip on a minute-by-minute basis. You can’t get data that’s even close to this detailed anywhere else; basically, we’ve invented an x-ray machine for podcasts. Below is a blinded sample.
If every listener had been tuned in to every second of this episode, the red area would take up the entire chart. But that never happens, in reality. Dips correspond to where people fast forwarded or tuned out altogether.
This data can be used to increase audience engagement and to create even more impactful ads. The more people who hear your ads, the more effective those ads will be and the more money you can make from them.
If you host a podcast and are interested in seeing this data for your own episodes, here’s what you need to know:
1. We will make a timeline available to you for free for any episode that attracts more than 150 unique listeners within 90 days of its release.
2. We have found that the best way to get your audience using Laughable is to tell your listeners about why they will benefit from using the app — and to give them a clear call to action to start using it. To this end, here are the key points you might want to hit; please feel welcome to put into your own wording and style.
- Benefits: Laughable allows you to search for thousands of comedians and other public figures and easily find all the podcasts they’ve been on as a host OR guest. It’s easy to use and you can listen not just to [NAME OF YOUR POD], but also to discover new podcasts and comedians to love.
- Call to Action: iPhone users can go to laughable.com/download to get the app. Android users can sign up to be notified when Laughable has a version ready for them at laughable.com/android.
3. You can contact us at info@laughable.com when you’ve done this so we can can keep an eye on your unique listener count and generate timelines for you as they become available. Please note that we won’t share timelines attributable to your show with third parties else unless we get your explicit permission.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why is the first iteration of Laughable focused on podcasts?
Because podcasts kick ass, and comedy is one of podcasting’s biggest genres by volume of both content and listeners. Comedians like Chris Hardwick (Nerdist), Marc Maron (WTF), Bill Burr (Monday Morning Podcast), and Bryan Callen (The Fighter and the Kid) have absolutely massive followings — and rightfully so. Beyond the big dogs, though, there are countless other hilarious series that deserve many more listeners than they currently have. The content is already out there; it’s DISCOVERY of the content that could use improvement. That’s where Laughable comes in.
What makes Laughable different from other podcasting apps?
We take the work out of finding awesome podcasts. Users can browse a menu of expertly curated episodes from across the comedy podcasting world; all they need to do is press play.
Laughable is personality-driven, designed to help listeners learn more about the comedians they most admire. We’ve created comedy-specific, IMDB-like profiles for over 3,000 artists. These profiles compile the episodes an artist has been on as a host OR guest, as well as links to their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, personal website, and tour dates.
What’s Laughable’s long-term vision?
Podcasts are just the beginning. Amazon started by selling books and then expanded into other product categories. Netflix started with DVD rentals and then evolved to offer streaming content. We’ve chosen podcasts as our starting point; in time, we’ll be expanding into other content areas (like standup comedy) and mediums (like video and virtual reality).
We’re working hard so that comedians can develop their own stores within the Laughable marketplace. From these stores, they’ll be able to sell digital content, merchandise, and tickets to live shows. Our goal is to give comedians as much useful data, added revenue, and autonomy over their presence on Laughable as possible.
I’m a comedian. What value can I derive from Laughable?
- More traffic to your social media accounts and website, since they’re all just one tap away in your Laughable profile.
- More podcast listeners, which leads to more revenue if you have ads in your episodes. Laughable does not take any of the ad revenue for itself — this value accrues entirely to artists.
- More Patreon supporters, since Laughable is the only app that provides direct links to your Patreon page, right from within the app.
- An easy way to share your content across platforms using our custom web-based media player. Recipients don’t even need the Laughable app to listen: the player works on PCs and all smartphones, and looks great when tweeted. Here’s how it works:
- With the development of our marketplace, you’ll have additional revenue opportunities from the sale of merchandise, premium digital content, and tickets to live performances.
- Data. See the top of this page, if you skipped over it originally.
I’m a podcaster. Do I get paid when someone listens to my show on Laughable?
Yes, if you already have advertising built into your content. We stream all content directly from the podcast’s RSS feed, each and every time a user plays an episode through Laughable. We know how important it is for podcasters to get credit for each download, since that drives advertising revenue.
How does Laughable make money?
Right now, we don’t. Our priority as we get Laughable off the ground is to create value for users and comedians. Once we have done so effectively, we’ll explore business models that can benefit users, comedians, and also Laughable. We’re contemplating everything from monthly subscriptions to advertising.
Can you tell me more about the artist profiles in the app?
We’ve seeded the platform with profiles for over 3,000 comedians, podcasters, and other public figures. Anyone who’s appeared on at least one podcast is fair game. Barack Obama, Gloria Steinem, Richard Branson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Chance the Rapper all have profiles. Once a user subscribes to an artist via their profile, every appearance they make on a podcast as a host or guest will be surfaced upon its release in the user’s Subscriptions feed.
Why are the Laughable profiles so valuable to comedians?
Being a comic these days is way more difficult than it ought to be. While maintaining an exhausting travel schedule, they have to spend countless hours cultivating an audience on multiple platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram — none of which is built for their benefit. Laughable is different. It’s designed from the ground up to be the glue that holds together a comic’s social media presence and content, all in one convenient location.
Furthermore, if you’re a comedian who doesn’t host your own podcast but you go on others’ shows regularly, our artist subscriptions feature is a godsend. For the first time, your fans have a way of staying current on your appearances without any effort at all from them or from you. Laughable does all the heavy lifting.
I’m a comedian who already has a Laughable profile. What control do I have over it?
We’re happy to revise any and all elements of your profile. Just shoot us an email at info@laughable.com. Here are the elements you can customize:
- Photo: square headshot (.jpg or .png).
- Social media handles: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat.
- Personal website URL.
- Ticketing site URL.
- Bio: 250 characters or fewer. No hyperlinks.
- Podcast series hosted.
- Podcast episode guest appearances: for each episode, the name of the series and the episode title.
I’m a comedian not currently featured in Laughable, but I’d like a profile. Can Laughable create one for me?
If you’re a comedian, host a podcast (or have appeared on at least 5 podcast episodes as a guest), AND have at least 2,500 Twitter followers, then email info@laughable.com with subject PROFILE CREATION REQUEST FOR [YOUR NAME]. Please include whatever information is relevant across the following fields:
- Photo: square headshot in .png or .jpg format (required).
- Social media handles: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat (optional).
- Personal website URL (optional).
- Website with tour dates URL (optional).
My podcast is not currently available on Laughable. Can I add it?
Yes: please send an email to info@laughable.com and include:
- The URL of your podcast’s RSS feed (required).
- The URL of your Patreon page (optional).
I’m a comedian who’s featured in Laughable. Not all the podcast episodes I have appeared in are showing up in my profile. Is there anything I can do about that?
Yes: you can send us a list of the episodes that you want included. Just email info@laughable.com. Please list the series name and title for each episode.
I have a podcast but some of my episodes are paywalled. How does Laughable deal with this?
We don’t make any paywalled content available to our users; we are committed to playing by the rules and only featuring content that is publicly available.
What does Laughable think about podcast networks?
We think they’re a critically important part of the comedy podcast ecosystem, which would be much less vibrant without all the resources networks bring to the table — for example, recording studios and ad sales capabilities. We’re excited to continue developing mutually beneficial partnerships with these networks.
When will Laughable be available for Android?
No set date, but we’re moving as quickly as we can! You can head back to our homepage and submit your email if you want us to let you know when it’s ready.