Long a supporter of comedians, Conan O’Brien is launching a Team Coco record label to release material by up-and-coming stand-ups. O’Brien’s eponymous talk show has showcased more stand-ups than any other late-night show, and he recently launched the Pete Holmes-hosted web series Conan After Hours to give them yet another venue. A record label can therefore be seen as merely one more piece of a burgeoning comedy empire—albeit one that is part of an outdated, failing industry being hastened to the grave by streaming content like Conan After Hours.
The label’s June debut comes from Ian Edwards, who’s written for Saturday Night Live, The Boondocks, Black Dynamite, and 2 Broke Girls, as well as hosted the podcast Soccer Comic Rant. Edwards’ album, 100% Half-Assed, was recorded last month at the Comedy Store in La Jolla, CA. By embracing the traditional record-label model, instead of watching Edwards’ set right now, for free, you’ll be able to see it in three months, for a small fee.
One silver lining to antiquated technology, at least, is that O’Brien founded the label with an eye to giving comics more creative control and financial reward for their work. So rest easy knowing that Edwards will at least get a healthy cut of that sweet, sweet outdated-technology revenue.