The Guy Behind the .music TLD says why he did it

[adinfinite]

The same guy bought music.mobi for more tha 600K

http://mixergy.com/constantine-roussos/

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Unfortunately, dotmusic, the idea of a "gatekeeper" scares me. In my opinion, "gatekeeper" is just another word for ICANN.

What makes YOU an expert in deciding who "include" and who to "exclude" in the music industry? For all we know, .music may very well stifle the next Beethoven, Mozart, or Louis Armstrong because some bouncer at the .music gate doesn't understand that "different" doesn't always mean "non-talented," that "different" can also mean "innovation."

It's sad but true: what starts out as a good idea with idealistic goals often ends up with cronyism and henchmen and corruption at its core.

Money and greed almost always insinuate their way into the mix of altruism and good intentions.

I say, keep the "white noise" by tabling ALL generic TLDs (in other words, I'm not just picking on .music, but also .movies, .banks, .cars, .loans, etc.) because of their potential to stifle commerce and the language of commerce. For instance, I would not want AIG or Washington Mutual to own .loans either.

I really dislike the idea of individuals and "special interest" groups "owning" generic TLDs and then restricting them based on some God-knows-what criteria. For example, EACH TLD has the potential to register and/or reject MILLIONS of domains within that special category. Rejecting musicians, even if they are not that talented, from registering a .music domain for specious reasons could very well lead down the slippery slope of the "music cartel," controlled by a few powerful moguls, who then decide what style of music is "acceptable." Small garage bands and music labels could very well be excluded from registering .music, and that would just about kill the music industry, limiting membership to the elite. And what would happen if any of these small time musicians and labels wanted to use the word "music" in their name? Would .music become so powerful that it could block the use of the word "music," except by its registrants?

My question then, from an ethical standpoint, should individuals or special interest groups be allowed to own generic TLDs, and, thus, reduce language itself to the marketplace?

My answer: I hope not.

*

 

[dotmusic]

If you read and comprehend the words I wrote, you'll see that I wasn't calling you "rotten" or "creepy" but I absolutely was calling the ICANN/New TLD process itself "creepy" and "rotten", which it absolutely is.

Just out of curiosity- what qualifies you to run the .music registry?
A background in sound engineering? Can you even read music?

You're selling this under the guise of "making a difference that matters for the music community. That is the objective" , so I assume you will be running this as a non-profit? LOL. Get fucking real man. This is a business proposition, pure and simple- and good, I say. I'm all for business and whether we like it or not, music is a salable product and there will always be a 'business' aspect to it because the artists have bills to pay too... Just step off the high-minded "it's for the music" bullshit and call this spade a spade.

Anyway, don't get defensive about this. The entire concept is very interesting, but it does beg some deeper philosophical questions that will need to be answered, as far as who we allow to fabricate and run custom TLDs- especially TLDs that convey a degree of authority by virtue of their right-of-the-dot keywords. It is just "whoever opens their checkbook, volunteers for the task and creates social networks of people who support the idea?" Or is there more to it than that?
Instead of running off crying that the domainers were mean and hurt your feelings and trotting out a bunch of tired old strawmen to tilt against, maybe consider this a mock trial for the questions that will need to be answered later on. So far, you aren't doing a very good job at answering any questions that are even slightly 'hard' in nature.

If you want to get defensive about something, then get defensive about paying $600K for music.mobi. Jesus Harold Christ, that was just EPIC lololololololol.

Let me answer your questions: The .music will in all likelihood be a non-profit.

My qualifications in music? Here it is:

- USC Bachelor - Music Industry
- Musicians Institute, Hollywood - Certified Sound Engineer
- Produced over 10 records
- Engineered over 14 records
- Songwriter and yes I can read music as well as tabs
- Worked in the music industry for 10+ years
- Won awards in music including lately at SXSW

Actually, I was pretty happy with the outcome of music.mobi and entertainment.mobi. Working on some new stuff right now. Working on a music game for mobile and Facebook/Myspace. It is 3 months away. Also working on MP3.fm, a URL shortener for music MP3s, files and links as well. That will be out in May and will be integrated with the Soundcloud API.

I will spare you my business accomplishments and background as well. I assure you I am more than qualified to do what I do and have worked extensively in the domain field, the SEO field and have launched numerous business in unrelated fields to be confident about my next venture. I am really passionate about music and you will only realize this if you ever meet me or hear me talk about music. I actually did win the top business plan at USC in 2001 for what I now call the Platform Ecosystem. It goes back a long way. I tried launching it in 2002 but it was a complete bust. Sometimes you have to be ok with failing. I am ok with losing money and failing. I have no issues with that. It is the entrepreneurial journey that is important and making a difference that matters. At least I did not get all the education at Harvard go to waste We win some and we lose some. That is what I call life.

---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

I thought everyone knew that the way to prosperity was by following a path that has been beaten time and time again (that path being .com). We all know that if it's internet related it must be .com or else be prepared to fail. I mean really can you imagine if someone actually tried to stray and do something new, think outside the box? Oh yes the folks who dream it and then do it are the reason we continue to evolve on this planet. I suggest that the folks who cannot see beyond the little blip known as .com, actually take a moment to think about the big picture. Who knows, it may actually be an eye opener for some!

Awesome comment

---------- Post added at 06:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------

dotmusic should be applauded for entering into this discussion as he had. No one forced him to. But this plan of his has far too many holes/flaws to succeed. Sell the .mobi and try to get a little cash back (as much as you can) and then WALK AWAY from business until you get a better idea of how to best spend $100,000. Again, good luck to you but until you find a fix to the issues, this ship will sink before it even hits anything deep.

I am fine with investing millions into .music. I see value and you see holes and flaws. Until you give me some evidence of the flaws and a counterargument that is not .com related, then we can have a discussion. I never had problems investing. What most people do not realize is that 50% of the game is relationships and the management team running the business. Venture capitalists invest in the entrepreneurs just as much as they invest in the business plans. The business plans change every month. Nothing will ever be the same

 

[DU]

You do make some valid point here. My view is that the millions of supporters are seething in the neophilia made from the prospected idea and nothing further. Look at Obama -- millions of ppl wanted him as US president and felt he was a change, a step in the right direction. Now most of his supporters on Election Day wish they had voted for someone--ANYONE--else. Aside from that, having support mean very little. The question is:Who'll be there to invest in this extension? Or if he doles them out exclusively, the .music would still be limiting in that not many would hear of it. I'm still confident that people would be most inclined to visit ozzyosbournemusic.com than ozzyosbourne.music. It seems like a fun idea but I honestly don't see it doing well in the end.

Think of the gTLD as more than just an extension (and the cost he says is $1,000,000+).

Think of it as a Noomle, or a Wordpress.org ONLY you can control and people will sign the RIGHTS for you to control some of the Merchandising?

Think Noomle COMBINED with LiveNation COMBINED with CafePress.

I've stated in other forums (.TV) that the Internet is changing. We're moving AWAY from address and to a world of BRANDS. In the DotCom space think Amazon. It's so big it's more or less it's own Shopping portal....

Now EXPAND that brand... .music ISN'T about ABC.Music or myband.Music...

It's about

http://Music/myband

It's SEMANTICALLY much better to handle. Think about who the guy is. He's a master of data/linking and networking. He will manage and control and EXERT a great deal of influence in the market IF it works.

The BRAND the MODEL the PLATFORM is MUSIC. Your band BOARDS the MUSIC platform and has immediate access to EVERYTHING else. He will create marketing channels.

He only needs one or two successful bands to break even. An American Idol winner makes over $1million.

He's only doing what I BELIEVE is necessary to do. I don't have the contacts or the cash to do it.

The ONLY NEGATIVE is that he's the first and it will be hard to change the Paradigm of the way we interact with the internet. And trust me, this is a change in PARADIGM.

I'd LOVE for him to come and comment on this because I think its less about ME FAILING TO UNDERSTAND why gTLD's fail and could be more you failing to see this as more than just a gTLD.

 

[liquidcherry]

Read.what.I.wrote.

I.did.read.it, yes.i.did.will.i.am lol....

Interesting development of this thread.....everyone here has valid points of view but i still have to root for Randy since i believe he has it broken it down correctly....

Sure, a great idea combined with a great concept could yield a very successful outcome but again

1.) go with the .com, buy music.com

2.)mobi failed unfortunately

3.) the new .music could take off, no doubt...but still, the perception of millions of user is..... DOT COM, nobody needs(or know) the recently introduction of hundreds of new tld's what are diluting everything, besides that it would take millions of billions in advertising.....did i mention buy a music related .com?? (and this guy has a fair music reletated .com anyway)

4.) domaintalker has valid points too but still, why waste a buck load of money(including the "reg fee" of an extension lol) when u can do it with an existing one, make's no sense...and to have all the bands/producers/music buffs under one umbrella...SONY or EMC didn't accomplished that from the get go so you think a new internet extension will just do that?? lol

I could go on and on about the not so well established extensions(very hard to have them ranking well in the SE's anyway)but let us just congratz to the boldness of this dude,good luck

Cheers,

Liquid

---------- Post added at 11:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 PM ----------

ok, i just saw your reply defaultuser and i have to agree...it is all about the platform...but what u are not realizing is one thing what Randy(and me) stated through this whole thread......it is true that it depends on the domain name...oh, i just caught you!!!!!...why?? because you just admitted your conversation is about the "domain name"...not extension !!!!!!!!!!!!


Cheers

Liquid

 

[dotmusic]

I think the likelihood of him 'redefining music' by controlling a TLD and developing some websites is next to nill, so little to worry about here, but you do raise a helluva good point here. It's one we're presently facing down in a profoundly smaller and much less ambitious way with Fingerstyle/Guitarists/com (which is literally days old).

Right now, admission criteria to the site results from the objective opinions of a few lifelong enthusiasts and practitioners, as well as a few of the artists themselves. If anything, we trend heavily a-conventional and strongly prefer artists who bring something 'new' to the table. This has irked a few 'purists' in the community. Seeing Claus Bossier Ferrari on the same page as Merle Travis makes a few people mad :D

With that said, should the site ever go the monetization route, who's to say that there wouldn't be temptation to more heavily showcase artists who play the guitars made by one of our sponsors? Or upsell the iTunes of artists who promise us a cut of the action?

Obviously, we aren't going to do any of that, but benevolence always dies off in time, while the systems themselves live on forever. You cannot create a system that only succeeds if the people tasked with running it are good natured. You have to presume that in time, bad natured people will weasel their way in and hijack it for their own gain. Handing over "music on the web" to the one guy who steps up with an open checkbook and a willingness to take on the task seems a bit creepy and kinda bespeaks to the sort of rottenness we can expect with these new TLDs....

"... and in other news, a multi-way bidding war has erupted between the governments of Palestine, Israel and a consortium of Investment Bankers from West Palm Beach to secure the rights to the newly proposed .Jews TLD..."

Let me get this straight. I volunteer after being invited to come to a domainer forum to discuss innovations in the TLD space to have you call me "creepy" and TLD initiatives "rotten"? I have nothing to say to you or others. There will always be critics especially domainers who believe that .com is the only domain on this planet that matters. Times are changing. If you have an idea that is better I suggest you execute it. There is no "handing over" I assure you. Things are not as black and white as you see it and the responsibility is large. You can believe what you want to believe but I think it is not effective to throw words such as creepy and rotten when I volunteered to come to "enemy" domainer territory to discuss .music. I am sorry but again, this is not a domainer's extension.

I assure many of you that some TLDs will be a success. I could care less about ".com is king" discussions and they are pointless in regards to new TLDs. The .music TLDs is not about beating .com. I could care less about that. It is a lost cause. Again the goal is one: making a difference that matters for the music community. That is the objective.

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 PM ----------

There was a lot that I was going to add here, in light of dotmusic appearing here at NP. But it had all been said pretty well above by the last several posters. I do wish you well but I think you're being zealous without thinking of the full scope of things. When the dust settles all you are doing is making a large website, with domains (using .music) given only to a select few. I need to point out that there is no real way to protect against fraudulent signups. And yes, I'm sure there will be others who'll argue this but let's face it: If I teamed with a guitarist and labeled us a 'band,' who would hold the dictation to prove/disprove our status? Who would be the All-Seeing Eye who would have the ability to label us as a real, legit band or 2 ppl who play instruments? And what if two local/underground bands have the same name? Let's say there are 2 bands that call themselves Black Cross. Who would get blackcross.music?

There may be more to your idea than we realize but from all you've said, the infrastructure you've been working on is nothing more than a website. A wikipedia for music? Anyone could reg wikipediamusic.com or similar and do the exact same thing. All .music seems to be is a way to regulate the website you're building and to pass out members' jackets to the bands a la "Look, I'm a member of this website -- and I got the domain to prove it!"

I truly wish you the best but your idea is nothing new (aside from the adding-an-extension part) and I really cannot fathom this taking off... at least without a few million for promotion. It'd be the quintessential Pyrrhic outcome, assuming it has enough life to make it to that plateau -- for all your hard work, the site might never yield anything to show for it, not even a profit.

Let us go one step further. There are over 10 bands called Rain. Also there are over 10 bands called Bliss. The domain goes to whoever gets it first in this case unless there is a sunrise period trademark request. Then it becomes more complicated.

It is ok that you think it will not take off. I have the opposite view. I am sure you guys will be talking about .music soon. I am sure 1.3 million signatures and 4 million band son myspace as well as myself are wrong. I think any success of business depends on the management and the entrepreneurs. Execution and strategy. Things will fall in place.

---------- Post added at 04:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:24 PM ----------

I know this guy. His name is Costa Roussos.....And, trust me, this play is NOT remotely a play about simply owning a TLD registry, and selling registrations.


(Disclosure: I have no personal interest in the .music concept).


The way I see it, this is a bold paradigm shift move - right at the centre of one of the world's most dynamic & lucrative markets...ie Music.


Its a play to use the internet to merge all the overlapping elements of the music business (producer, distributor, promoter, & consumer) into one cohesive concept/portal.


The great challenge for music-makers (bands, individuals, songwriters) is to find a way to reach & connect with an audience. Get your music out there. Get it heard, and played - get branded - and, get people to pay to hear it.

The key channels, now, are the recording companies (and their distribution/promotion systems), online music d/l's (eg iTunes etc), and, independent bands trying to go it alone via the internet, or any other way they can.....Its fragmented. And, they all overlap.


The right .Music concept has the potential to grab and unify this global platform....become an online Mega-Mall for every aspect of the music business....The place you get your music branded, promoted, heard, discussed, d/l & sold, and exposed, to a global market....The go-to place that music lovers go to hear, see, discover, and download, emerging music, and established music.....But, much more....Dot Music could manage relationships...part-own copyright, manage & coordinate merchandise, drive the discovery of new bands/music, control distribution, interact with the global market in a hundred ways etc etc....All branded as '.Music'....And, .Music takes a clip from every aspect of it on the way through.

This .Music concept could (& will) forge partnerships with the EMI's, and the Sony's etc....It will build a massive following of millions of music lovers (they already have 1.3 million supporters - and, they haven't even got the .Music extension yet!) ....And, it will be a core channel for emerging bands to brand themselves, and get global distribution...


If iTunes can make hundreds of millions of dollars by offering simple downloads of music clips, imagine what a concept could do if music clips were only 10% of what .Music could be....


Oh, yes....This is much more than an 'extension' registry play. This is a play for the future of how music is found, sold, distributed, and managed.


This is a billion dollar play.

.

Great to hear back from you Chris! Awesome man. Thanks for the positive feedback. You are on the right track here man. Hope all is well Down Under.

 

[DU]

I didn't read any further.
Let me apologize if anything I've said thusfar has personally offended and offer whatever help and service I can.

You should still read further... but that's the closest to an apology I've ever read from you. Wait. It *was* an apology!

I'm even more intrigued because it appears I've totally misjudged the overall rationale to this whole platform. I think it would be truly awesome to have dotMusic continue to post here (obviously not at the same frequency as today) because I think this whole venture really looks opening up the whole internet in ways we the laypeople may not see or understand. We're touching on an internationally established monopoly in an arena "music" that touches ever single remote corner of the entire world - I'd go as far as saying each and every person.

I find the range of comments interesting; particularly those that fail to be able to see anything from outside the scope of "what a TLD is" and what it "represents".

I give incredible kudos to ANYONE who undergoes ANYTHING of this MAGNITUDE irrespective of how much money is involved - even more so if they are open and transparent about some of their dealings. I *will* say that based on what I've read the transparency is mandatory for success - you're talking about music, you're talking about people's creativity and passion. Of course I accept that there is always going to be the secretive element because I believe this is a powerful move and a bold statement and I'm sure that others with even deeper pockets would love for this to fail.

I, for one, really appreciate the level of candor and attentiveness this thread has received from Constantine. It's a breath of fresh air to read such an interesting thread.

 

[dotmusic]

You should still read further... but that's the closest to an apology I've ever read from you. Wait. It *was* an apology!

I'm even more intrigued because it appears I've totally misjudged the overall rationale to this whole platform. I think it would be truly awesome to have dotMusic continue to post here (obviously not at the same frequency as today) because I think this whole venture really looks opening up the whole internet in ways we the laypeople may not see or understand. We're touching on an internationally established monopoly in an arena "music" that touches ever single remote corner of the entire world - I'd go as far as saying each and every person.

I find the range of comments interesting; particularly those that fail to be able to see anything from outside the scope of "what a TLD is" and what it "represents".

I give incredible kudos to ANYONE who undergoes ANYTHING of this MAGNITUDE irrespective of how much money is involved - even more so if they are open and transparent about some of their dealings. I *will* say that based on what I've read the transparency is mandatory for success - you're talking about music, you're talking about people's creativity and passion. Of course I accept that there is always going to be the secretive element because I believe this is a powerful move and a bold statement and I'm sure that others with even deeper pockets would love for this to fail.

I, for one, really appreciate the level of candor and attentiveness this thread has received from Constantine. It's a breath of fresh air to read such an interesting thread.

Kudos! Thanks for the kind words. I am glad that many of you guys are supportive here. The success of the .music initiative and tremendous support has been a group effort, not just myself. Cheers

 

[ComKid]

Interesting interview. Thanks for posting. Rep'ed ya!

 

[adinfinite]

thanks for the rep. hope u got all the SEO and Domaining tips that came out in the interview

 

[liquidcherry]

interesting read, thx, but why burn that kind of cash in a more than unstable economy, he has already a well established .com?? sometimes it looks to me that people with a crap load of money don't care/know what to do with it......he could have supported tons of unknown/lesser known artists with his money and the return would have been better(i assume)..... It just looks like to me that he wanted to be known as the guy who is behind dot music, personality stunt at least...we will see how he is doing in a couple months(seeing the downturn on .mobi what was a big hype and let's say failed let's me almost predict lol)...why don't buy music.com for that kind of money, hahahaha

Anyway, good luck 2 him!!

Cheers

Liquid

 

[NetOctave]

Interesting interview. Sometimes its interesting to know how others are seing things, specially when we are seing it in an entirely different perspective. Thanks for sharing it...

 

[partall]

It looks like the guy has a nice vision. Inspiring!

 

[tech4]

Thanks for the link, excellent read.

I didn't get the part in why he wanted the .music. Was it something to do with the Harvard statement "Do something, to make it count"...Which doesn't make much sense.

 

[adinfinite]

Thanks for the link, excellent read.

I didn't get the part in why he wanted the .music. Was it something to do with the Harvard statement "Do something, to make it count"...Which doesn't make much sense.

I think it came down to fulfilling his vision and making money.

 

[tech4]

I mean not how we interpret it, what was his reason word for word in interview. I ddin't quite get that part why .music exactly. But if you say making money, I believe you. But what did he say exactly?

Thanks.

 

[bmugford]

Maybe one day if I keep working hard I can also attain a non existent extension!

Brad

 

[wot]

Maybe one day if I keep working hard I can also attain a non existent extension!

Brad

Follow that dream. :P

 

[Archangel]

There are arguments everywhere about the length of extension, despite its relevance. "The museum industry is big, so let's make .museum!" "EVERYONE has a cell, so .mobi is perfect!" (The former was a joke. Are museums -- or airlines -- a big enough industry on the web to merit their own extension?) I'm guessing this guy thought, "Everyone listen to music so .music will be a hit!" It'll have about 7 million registrations its first year (99.999999999999999999999% by investors) and by that time the next year, practically every .music will be dropped and then we'll see about 200 of them registered a year.

Watch for this to flop miserably.

 

[liquidcherry]

There are arguments everywhere about the length of extension, despite its relevance. "The museum industry is big, so let's make .museum!" "EVERYONE has a cell, so .mobi is perfect!" (The former was a joke. Are museums -- or airlines -- a big enough industry on the web to merit their own extension?) I'm guessing this guy thought, "Everyone listen to music so .music will be a hit!" It'll have about 7 million registrations its first year (99.999999999999999999999% by investors) and by that time the next year, practically every .music will be dropped and then we'll see about 200 of them registered a year.

Watch for this to flop miserably.

Exactly Randy, that is why i made the comparison with .mobi...whe mobi came out and i saw all this"investors" i thought hey reg one or 2(despite that i am glad that i didn't reg more...)well, look at all the 3 LLL mobis now what are for sale for a fraction of the original buy....lol

Same will happen to the new extensions....the only one i think could have some value though would be .inc, .llc (not .xxx) lol....but we will see

Cheers

Liquid

 

[Archangel]

I'm in the pool that likes the .xxx idea. But it'd still be a novelty, as I couldn't foresee the owner of wetp*ssy.com selling the domain in favor of wetp*ssy.xxx But that's another topic. lol

I recall owning yog.mobi and sold it for maybe $200-250 or so. LLL.mobi looked like the future... it was the future, for a few months. The buyout busted. I started a lll.mobi buyout-watch thread and regged 2, for future investment. But so many ppl have the damn things and are selling them dirt-cheap, to get their money back from them, that I lost interest in 'em and let my 2 drop.

.music would be limited in scope, too. Sure, you can have a non-organization website on a .org and it'd be okay. And surely you could have anything on a .music. But it's long, hokey, and WAY too simplistic. It'll never catch on and we'll see no more than 250 developed .music sites in the future. 99.9% of all registrations will be from investors. It'll suffer an epic fail and no one will be to blame. It was simply a stupid idea.

Exactly Randy, that is why i made the comparison with .mobi...whe mobi came out and i saw all this"investors" i thought hey reg one or 2(despite that i am glad that i didn't reg more...)well, look at all the 3 LLL mobis now what are for sale for a fraction of the original buy....lol

Same will happen to the new extensions....the only one i think could have some value though would be .inc, .llc (not .xxx) lol....but we will see

Cheers

Liquid

 

[DU]

He's not going to use .music as a typical gTLD. What he's doing is actually very innovative and potentially EXTREMELY lucrative.

He's not going to just sell you YourBand.music. He's going to sell you YourBand.music and board that onto his platform that will market and sell your merchandise, your tickets. I'm sure his ultimate goal is to turn that platform to his advantage by acting as first an agent and ultimately producer.

The problem he faces is that the people that make money of records don't have to deal with 3,000,000 shit bands. They just sign the good ones... and the good ones won't fall for some platform BS *unless* it provides them owner rights... (or maybe I just give people too much credit for understanding that the money is in OWNING your own songs).

 

[liquidcherry]

And surely you could have anything on a .music. But it's long, hokey, and WAY too simplistic. It'll never catch on and we'll see no more than 250 developed .music sites in the future. 99.9% of all registrations will be from investors. It'll suffer an epic fail and no one will be to blame. It was simply a stupid idea.

I am so with you Randy, i couldn't have expressed it better myself...just look at FOX news(and it is not my TV station of choice), they jumped on the band wagon after the whole mobi thing came out but it never caught up, lol

Cheers

Liquid

---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 PM ----------

He's not going to use .music as a typical gTLD. What he's doing is actually very innovative and potentially EXTREMELY lucrative.

He's not going to just sell you YourBand.music. He's going to sell you YourBand.music and board that onto his platform that will market and sell your merchandise, your tickets. I'm sure his ultimate goal is to turn that platform to his advantage by acting as first an agent and ultimately producer.

How do you actually know that he will be EXTREMELY lucrative...don't forget the initial investment of a big chunk of money, well 600k for a mobi...and now he is chipping out another 100k(at least to own his own dot??)...of course we will see, i wish him the best but like i stated earlier he would have been better off to buy music.com lol

Cheers

Liquid

 

[Archangel]

The idea of a .music, even for the usage suggested, is a risky move. All right -- let's say he markets this to bands or anyone in the music industry. defaultuser is suggesting it's a lucrative idea but he fails to understand WHY an extension fails, to begin with. If there were only, let's assume, 300 .music sites online, the extension would receive little exposure and most ppl likely would never remember it. Arguments on this? They're welcome but there are ppl, after all this time, who STILL do not know of .info and would more likely check out site.com or siteinfo.com than site.info. I wish the dude luck but I couldn't foresee this as being anything more than a .name for music sites.

He's not going to use .music as a typical gTLD. What he's doing is actually very innovative and potentially EXTREMELY lucrative.

He's not going to just sell you YourBand.music. He's going to sell you YourBand.music and board that onto his platform that will market and sell your merchandise, your tickets. I'm sure his ultimate goal is to turn that platform to his advantage by acting as first an agent and ultimately producer.

The problem he faces is that the people that make money of records don't have to deal with 3,000,000 shit bands. They just sign the good ones... and the good ones won't fall for some platform BS *unless* it provides them owner rights... (or maybe I just give people too much credit for understanding that the money is in OWNING your own songs).

How do you actually know that he will be EXTREMELY lucrative...don't forget the initial investment of a big chunk of money, well 600k for a mobi...and now he is chipping out another 100k(at least to own his own dot??)...of course we will see, i wish him the best but like i stated earlier he would have been better off to buy music.com lol

Cheers

Liquid

 

[DU]

How do you actually know that he will be EXTREMELY lucrative...don't forget the initial investment of a big chunk of money, well 600k for a mobi...and now he is chipping out another 100k(at least to own his own dot??)...of course we will see, i wish him the best but like i stated earlier he would have been better off to buy music.com lol

Cheers

Liquid

Because 50c and Jay-Z roll around in cars that I dream about.

Read.what.I.wrote.

It's not about the NAME - he wants to create a music launching platform. Potentially he could own the distribution rights to a considerable number of bands.

$600k sn't a lot