Laughly is an audio streaming service focused on comedy. It works like Spotify or Pandora, but it treats artists like partners. Comedians get paid for every ‘click’, and all revenue is split 50/50.
There are 250,000 registered users listening to over 700 comedians on Laughly; all the popular artists like Kevin Hart and Sarah Silverman are there. The app has plenty of offerings and, while it isn’t the only comedy app out there, it’s not focused on podcasts so you won’t be spending all your time trying to find jokes while listening to anecdotes.
Laughly uses machine-learning algorithms to choose from over 150 comedic attributes when you like or dislike a track, so it’s easy to find the stuff that makes you laugh. It really does feel like Pandora for comedy. There’s plenty of people using it, which means there’s been millions of tracks thumbed up or down; the stations are well-defined and varied.
The app is available on Android and iOS – you can also listen at the Laughly website. There’s no cost to use the service, it’s ad-supported, but they do offer a $3.99 monthly subscription that removes advertising, unlocks exclusive content, and allows offline listening.
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Laughly is polished and reminiscent of what’s been done right with other ‘radio’ offerings. Smiles and frowns replace thumbs and the genres offered span nearly every comedy style imaginable. It doesn’t try to be funny where it shouldn’t, there isn’t any clutter in the way.
Satellite radio offers a couple of comedy channels, and Laughly feels a bit like that, but none of those use artificial intelligence to figure out what makes us laugh. Laughly provides value with its deep library of comedy that continues to grow. The people behind the app think comedy is having a resurgence.
Stand-up comedian Brandie Posey says, “Comedy is kinda having a thing right now, around the world, people need to laugh,” she goes on “Laughly makes it easier to be a comedy ambassador. It’s great that we’re treated as partners, not some dirty little secret.”
Laughly succeeds in being the ‘Pandora of comedy’ – the comedians aren’t just newcomers, the classics are there; the app offers greats from today and yesterday like Maria Bamford, Aziz Ansari, George Carlin, and Eddie Murphy. This app was created by lovers of comedy who appreciate the artists making it.
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