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/

 

[MattB2]

Just came across this article and would love for dotmobi or any other .mobi owners/fans to chime in.

.mobi article in Miami Herald

Well spotted, but to quote from the article:

"Formerly, a mobi extension was required to follow design rules that made web pages easy to read on a mobile phone screen.

But now, a site can detect that a user is on a mobile device and automatically display in a cellphone-friendly format."

Except that this was never true - web servers have been able to detect browser / device type and display content appropriately since at least as far back as 1995.

I never did understand the raison d'etre for .mobi (or .aero, coop, museum, name, pro, cat, jobs, tel or travel for that matter!)

Matt.

 

[Kate]

Except that this was never true - web servers have been able to detect browser / device type and display content appropriately since at least as far back as 1995.

Absolutely correct. We are talking about basic negotiation techniques here - it essentially boils down to identifying the user agent.
I am also under the impression that few developers really have a good command of the HTTP protocol - sometimes there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[dotmusic]

Just came across this article and would love for dotmobi or any other .mobi owners/fans to chime in.

.mobi article in Miami Herald

I have to agree that in retrospect I overpaid for music.mobi and entertainment.mobi but I do not lose much sleep over it. My approach is quite different from Rick Schwartz though since I have a vested interest in the music space while he is a reseller of domains. He does not develop. He just sells. So if I were a real estate investor, I would share his opinion.

Moving forward, I am developing a music game application for the mobile phone. Music.mobi is a great name, so I am not too worried about branding. I also just recently bought Music.biz as well and in 2 weeks launching two new sites:

1) MP3.fm which will be a URL Shortener dedicated to music exclusively and also a storage/streaming site for MP3s in the cloud, similar to Soundcloud.com.

2) Lyrics.fm which will be a licensed lyrics website. Lyrics are one of the most searched keywords on the Internet with one of the largest longtail keyword variations.

I also recently spoke about .music at the San Francisco Music Tech Summit and was interviewed/presented by Mashable. You guys can check it out at: YouTube - Constantine Roussos of dotMusic (.music) - SFMusicTech video (San Francisco Music Tech Summit)

Rock on!

 

[Archangel]

Hate to say it but there are a few hundred billion websites pretty much identical to the 2 you are releasing. You really ought to utilize your domains better.

 

[Soofi]

Randy, I do think they must have brainstormed enough on it and would have planned their launch on something unique, some unique product related to those 2 products..

 

[Archangel]

I hope to God they didn't come up with thee 2 ideas outta brainstorming because if this is what they could come up with after THINKING IT THROUGH, I'd hate to imagine the future of his endeavors. You can even buy cheap lyrics scripts online and get free URL shorteners. This isn't to say he couldn't get these sites to take off. They're simply saturated on the net and adding more really won't help any. It won't hurt, ether, but it's not an idea worth pursuing.

Randy, I do think they must have brainstormed enough on it and would have planned their launch on something unique, some unique product related to those 2 products..

 

[dotmusic]

Hate to say it but there are a few hundred billion websites pretty much identical to the 2 you are releasing. You really ought to utilize your domains better.

I disagree with you.

1) MP3.fm as a URL shortener works because it is short and it is self explains what the link is about. .fm is the streaming component. Goal: industry standard for music URL shortening. Find me a better URL for a dedicated URL shortener and then maybe I can say there are a few hundred like that. Actually give me 2 companies.

2) Lyrics.fm - Not sure what more you can do with Lyrics.fm. It will be an SEO optimized lyrics site. Those lyrics sites you refer to attract millions of searches and combinations. Check adwords to see the search count. It will be licensed lyrics and will be part of the whole overall music strategy I am adopting. The market is huge and there are about 20 big players in this field.

---------- Post added at 01:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:21 PM ----------

Randy, I do think they must have brainstormed enough on it and would have planned their launch on something unique, some unique product related to those 2 products..

There is nothing unique with Lyrics websites. But there is a huge amount of traffic and interest. Lyrics is probably the second highest search volume after music related combinations. So you are suggestion Lyrics.fm should be about what? Something that is NOT lyrics? MP3.fm should be something that is not about music, ringtones, streaming music? Would love to hear your alternatives if you have any.

I always go on the side of simplicity. People have expectations. Lyrics are for lyrics and MP3 is for music files (whether it is storage or streaming or buying).

You disagree?

---------- Post added at 01:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------

You can even buy cheap lyrics scripts online and get free URL shorteners.

You can not license lyrics with cheap lyrics scripts. These are illegal. Publishers/writers should get paid and lyrics must be licensed.

 

[Archangel]

Sometimes, a person says a foolish thing. I made 2 general statements. The lyrics one was rather foolish on my part since, as you pointed out, what better way to utilize a lyrics domain than by making a lyrics site? Further, I'll agree with you that although there are hundreds of lyric sites out there, most are unlicensed (although the owners claim public domain. I own multiple registered copyrights and I know the laws surrounding them. These sites are illegal, no matter what detritus they spew out about their pseudo-legality). The only real issue you have here is that there are already major sites, such as azlyrics.com and I can pretty much guarantee that you will never dethrone them, especially with a domain extension that very little knows exist. Good luck trying, though.

Unfortunately for you, the whole 'url shortener' idea is a terrible idea on so many levels. You'll want to know what I'm talking about so here is the skinny. First, there are thousands of these type of sites out there, most made by little teenagers who believe they could make a billion-dollar site off a free url shortener script they found at HotScripts.com. You want me to name you companies that use them but that's where the problem gets even worse: No company has them, just individuals who register CCC.nets and LLLL.com's and believe that they'll succeed with it.

There's your advantage, right? That no companies use them and you could be the first. Does that guarantee you anything? No. There are reasons that major companies do little to nothing with the idea. Simple answer: url-shorteninjg is passe and so yester-decade. A better explanation: Shortening services were all the rage back in the Geocities, free webhosting days when a person could get a site hosted with them for free yet they had to have a long, boring, hard-to-remember URL. Those days are long gone, my compatriot. There are many musicians who use Myspace Music but that's your only hope at ever succeeding with this endeavor because the vast majority of ppl otherwise have a site with their own domain or they don't bother with it at all & simply use the myspace link. There are quite a few who use domain forwarding, forwarding the domain to their myspace page. But those links are nothing as grotesque as, say, www()angelfire.com/se/my_website

Further more, you have all the wrong ideas, the same absentminded thoughts that thousands of others have. Do you seriously believe that just because your domain is short and ends with an extension that relates to music (but not music itself but how some ppl hear it -- the majority use digital music these days; not as many use standard FM radio), your service will boom? That flawed logic is why ppl reg short domains (CCC.net or LLLL.com) and set up their own forwarding services.

Some ppl might actually use your service but I'm guessing 99.994636% of ppl will be happy with their domain and won't use a shortening service. They'd much rather get a new domain if they're unhappy with their current one. Your only hope would be the myspace music users and I don't think they'd be so thrilled by mp3.fm that they'd jump the train and use it. Who know .fm exists? Very little.

I'd stick with you lyrics site if you seriously think you could put a tiny dint in the Internet with it. The shortening service is an absolute waste of time and you could do far better with the domain.

I'm not trying to be mean but we're both businessman, even if you are the one with huge pockets. The idea of better utilizing lyrics.fm was silly on my part but believing you could ever make a somewhat decent url shortener site is silly on your part. But as always, good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[scandiman]

My goals were to do exactly the opposite of other TLD registries have done. In other words, forget about open registrations that encourages cybersquatting and parking of domains with no relevant content..

Good decision!

...and forget about the quick money grab of auctioning premium domains like .asia, .mobi, and .me has done. I can share with you guys that those premium domains will be used for the best benefit of the .music registrants.

And another good decision!

The musicians choose what they want to do. I do not dictate anything to them.

If the domain owner can do as they please then how do you regulate the relevance of content or parking pages? This gets to be a tricky proposition, mTLD bumbled code compliance and premium name content, .pro and .travel didn't do well to regulate their domain owners either in spite of the supposed requirements.

We can go into why .travel has not kicked butt but I assure you it has less to do with the TLD than the management team or execution of the extension.

Very true, .travel can provide you a lot of lessons of what not to do with .music.

By the way, I did try to buy music.com but the price was not worth it. We are talking world record here if it did happen.

Thanks for demonstrating something I expected when ICANN opened up the process for new TLD's, why spend multiple millions on one domain when you can buy an entire TLD?

Music.mobi anyone? Yea I probably know what you guys are thinking. Guess was interesting that Afilias bought out .mobi. talk about consolidation and monopolies.

I have to agree that in retrospect I overpaid for music.mobi and entertainment.mobi but I do not lose much sleep over it. My approach is quite different from Rick Schwartz though since I have a vested interest in the music space while he is a reseller of domains. He does not develop. He just sells. So if I were a real estate investor, I would share his opinion.

Moving forward, I am developing a music game application for the mobile phone. Music.mobi is a great name, so I am not too worried about branding.

Sorry to hear that music.mobi doesn't have a future in your .music plans but I'm glad to see you've got something else in store for it.

 

[mwzd]

Randy, for a person looking for an entire namespace, doesn't a dedicated url forwarding service make sense? All the major's seem to be getting this 'vanity social media addon'. Case in point being wp.me - it makes sense on quite a few levels.

dotmusic - thanks for your insights, much appreciated.

It all sounds really exciting and I guess that's what good marketing is all about.

 

[Soofi]

There is nothing unique with Lyrics websites. But there is a huge amount of traffic and interest. Lyrics is probably the second highest search volume after music related combinations. So you are suggestion Lyrics.fm should be about what? Something that is NOT lyrics? MP3.fm should be something that is not about music, ringtones, streaming music? Would love to hear your alternatives if you have any.

I always go on the side of simplicity. People have expectations. Lyrics are for lyrics and MP3 is for music files (whether it is storage or streaming or buying).

You disagree?

Nah I dont disagree, on the other hand I fully support your decision of going with what your domain names actually suggest. Only thing I'm worried about is the market saturation, so something unique within the music niche for mp3's and url shortening will help boost your services and obviously an edge over all the other key players.

One suggestion that I have for you for the url shortening service is of try and make the short urls much more memorable for the user rather then randomly generating such links: www.mp3.fm/xyzjahgdksjkdj, kinda kills the whole idea of shortening or memorizing urls :lol:

---------- Post added at 05:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 PM ----------

I hope to God they didn't come up with thee 2 ideas outta brainstorming because if this is what they could come up with after THINKING IT THROUGH, I'd hate to imagine the future of his endeavors. You can even buy cheap lyrics scripts online and get free URL shorteners. This isn't to say he couldn't get these sites to take off. They're simply saturated on the net and adding more really won't help any. It won't hurt, ether, but it's not an idea worth pursuing.

Randy I did say "something unique" on those lines will help. I think you kinda sorta missed that one! :P

 

[adinfinite]

Thanks for chiming in dotmusic. Randy has a few good points but since tyou are the one out there with "skin in the game" and on the forefront of the movement, my sentiments are with you. All the best.

 

[DnEbook]

where does this application stand at this point ?

....just interested

 

[Soofi]

where does this application stand at this point ?

....just interested

He said in one of his posts earlier that ICANN has pended application review till April 2011 I think..


On a side note, .MUSIC Extension has 4222543 friends on myspace :kickass:

 

[HeyNow]

After a couple of these new, vanity-style TLD registries go belly-up, and the domain holders are left with sites that don't resolve because the registry was part of a bankruptcy or business shutdown, end-users will be looking for more stability than niche.

 

[cache]

How does one make money in url shortening service?

 

[Soofi]

How does one make money in url shortening service?

advertising, sponsors and affiliate marketing IMHO :wave: