Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Search Penetration Index(SPI): 03.02.04
Topic for 03.02.04: Music Downloads II
We searched 1,718,406 records over 14 hours, 58 minutes, 42 seconds, using 36,747 total phrases, to find 89,392 unique domains and 341,500 unique URLs.
Sample Keywords: file-sharing, swapping, songs, Mp3, CD, WAV, gospel, jazz, music, downloads, peer-to-peer (see the complete list, purchase the full report by writing us at WhatRank?.)**
DOMAINS: Top Ten
URLs: Top Twenty
__________________________________________________
Discussion...
Who's winning the web? We wanted to re-run our music report from a few days ago (see "Music Downloads I" in the archives), so we created a "Music Downloads II" search by expanding the number and kind of keywords, mostly into the realm of music styles. That produced an interesting report that shows news organizations that cover the music-downloading issue, competing with some file-sharing sites and a few file-share portal information sites, for visibility in this dynamic space on the web.
Let's start with the notables: San Diego-based Zeropaid.com, a file-sharing portal started by two young entrepreneurs, an independent web developer and a former MSN site producer, not only showed in the Top Ten Domains (#6), but came out on top in the Top Ten URLs list as well (URL:#1). Other non-mainstream news-type organizations that came high were CDFreaks.com, based in The Netherlands, (#8) and retailing rhino, Seattle-based Amazon.com (#1).
CDFreaks describes itself as a home for the CD/DVD community; what that means in practical terms appears to be both a news and information portal, as well as a software/firmware download center, a la ZDnet.
We had a lot of problems actually using filesharingplanet.de (#5, Domains), with virtually no usable homepage or corporate information available, but found filesharingplanet.com more useful -- no idea if there's any relationship between the two.
Also high on the Domain Top Ten were the news organizations that have been aggressively covering the whole space, including CNN, USA Today and CNET's News.com. Wired.com, the site for Wired Magazine, also placed high on the Domain Top Ten (#3), and then hit pay-dirt on the Top Ten URLs list, as well (#6) with their coverage of pricing for Apple's iTunes music store. Go Wired! The only others to score on both Top Ten lists, Zeropaid.com and CDFreaks.com, showing the ambition of niche-based portals to stay strong in their spaces.
On the other hand, top URLs came from sites like P2PMusicJukeBox.com (#12), file-sharing software, and ZingFriends.com (#7), a Singapore-based MP3 newsletter. ZeroPaid.com again made the Top Ten URLs (#1).
Special mention to a site that didn't quite make the Top Ten, but appears to be doing yeoman's work in its space, creating a value-added services in cyberspace: Ampcast.com (#11, URLs, #83, Domains). This Mystic, CT-based site offers musicians on the fringe, those without big record deals, bands that travel around and others, a chance to provide their often unique and lyrical sounds to new audiences. Moreover, Ampcast.com, offers very clear information to users about its history, purpose and mission. It's navigable and user-friendly.
Miscellaneous: major companies that scored high on our earlier report, using few keywords and phrases, included Apple (#66, Domains). Kazaa didn't make Top Ten Domains or URLs, but did crop up on the URLs list, fairly high up...to find out exactly where, get the full report from us. We were a little surprised to see bearshare.com MIA in this report. This space bears watching, however, as a combination of technical, legal, economic and user-driven factors are continuing to roil the waters of file-sharing, music-downloading and the music business, in general. Stay tuned...
__________________________________________________
**The SPI measures who's winning the web via a proprietary algorithm that calculates websites' exposure to particular topics via keywords. The algorithm weights various factors to come up with a score, which is used to rank the sites in the index. To see the complete index for this topic, for more information about SPI, or to purchase a customized SPI for your niche or business, please write us at WhatRank?.
Search Penetration Index, SPI and "Who's Winning the Web" are trademarks of WR Media, Somerville, MA. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. Other marks, brands and websites mentioned in this column and the SPI report are not affiliated with WR Media and are the property of their respective owners.
Topic for 03.02.04: Music Downloads II
We searched 1,718,406 records over 14 hours, 58 minutes, 42 seconds, using 36,747 total phrases, to find 89,392 unique domains and 341,500 unique URLs.
Sample Keywords: file-sharing, swapping, songs, Mp3, CD, WAV, gospel, jazz, music, downloads, peer-to-peer (see the complete list, purchase the full report by writing us at WhatRank?.)**
DOMAINS: Top Ten
| 1. | www.amazon.com | 42.928 |
| 2. | news.com.com | 24.161 |
| 3. | www.wired.com | 18.35 |
| 4. | news.bbc.co.uk | 16.971 |
| 5. | www.geocities.com | 16.605 |
| 6. | www.zeropaid.com | 15.218 |
| 7. | www.pcworld.com | 10.837 |
| 8. | www.cdfreaks.com | 10.406 |
| 9. | www.cnn.com | 10.143 |
| 10. | www.usatoday.com | 10.016 |
| 11. | news.zdnet.co.uk | 8.863 |
| 12. | www.pcmag.com | 8.738 |
| 13. | slashdot.org | 8.032 |
| 14. | mp3.about.com | 7.848 |
| 15. | www.themusicdownloadstore.com | 7.78 |
| 16. | ubl.artistdirect.com | 7.724 |
| 17. | www.geek.com | 7.723 |
| 18. | www.music-e.net | 7.637 |
| 19. | www.epinions.com | 7.454 |
| 20. | www.newfreeware.com | 7.235 |
URLs: Top Twenty
| 1. | www.zeropaid.com/ | 8.842 |
| 2. | www.thepcmanwebsite.com/mp3.shtml | 3.646 |
| 3. | www.datamusic.org/ | 2.538 |
| 4. | www.cdfreaks.com/archive.php | 2.447 |
| 5. | www.filesharingplanet.de/ | 2.288 |
| 6. | www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58... | 2.171 |
| 7. | www.zingfriends.com/ | 2.13 |
| 8. | www.sosimpletobuy.com/free-mp3-downlo... | 2.038 |
| 9. | mp3.about.com/cs/napsteretc/ | 1.979 |
| 10. | www.iggyz.com/book/music.html | 1.901 |
| 11. | www.ampcast.com/ | 1.89 |
| 12. | www.p2pmusicjukebox.com/features.html | 1.824 |
| 13. | www.mp3grand.com/bottom.html | 1.801 |
| 14. | www.jjohnston.com/p2p_peer_to_peer_mu... | 1.789 |
| 15. | www.webtechgeek.com/Mp3-File-Sharing-... | 1.767 |
| 16. | www.confindental.de/ | 1.688 |
| 17. | www.heaven4me.com/karaoke.html | 1.684 |
| 18. | www.share2.com/cdripper/ | 1.608 |
| 19. | www.bfactormusic.com/morpheusmusic/ | 1.594 |
| 20. | www.mp3machine.com/top20/ | 1.591 |
__________________________________________________
Discussion...
Who's winning the web? We wanted to re-run our music report from a few days ago (see "Music Downloads I" in the archives), so we created a "Music Downloads II" search by expanding the number and kind of keywords, mostly into the realm of music styles. That produced an interesting report that shows news organizations that cover the music-downloading issue, competing with some file-sharing sites and a few file-share portal information sites, for visibility in this dynamic space on the web.
Let's start with the notables: San Diego-based Zeropaid.com, a file-sharing portal started by two young entrepreneurs, an independent web developer and a former MSN site producer, not only showed in the Top Ten Domains (#6), but came out on top in the Top Ten URLs list as well (URL:#1). Other non-mainstream news-type organizations that came high were CDFreaks.com, based in The Netherlands, (#8) and retailing rhino, Seattle-based Amazon.com (#1).
CDFreaks describes itself as a home for the CD/DVD community; what that means in practical terms appears to be both a news and information portal, as well as a software/firmware download center, a la ZDnet.
We had a lot of problems actually using filesharingplanet.de (#5, Domains), with virtually no usable homepage or corporate information available, but found filesharingplanet.com more useful -- no idea if there's any relationship between the two.
Also high on the Domain Top Ten were the news organizations that have been aggressively covering the whole space, including CNN, USA Today and CNET's News.com. Wired.com, the site for Wired Magazine, also placed high on the Domain Top Ten (#3), and then hit pay-dirt on the Top Ten URLs list, as well (#6) with their coverage of pricing for Apple's iTunes music store. Go Wired! The only others to score on both Top Ten lists, Zeropaid.com and CDFreaks.com, showing the ambition of niche-based portals to stay strong in their spaces.
On the other hand, top URLs came from sites like P2PMusicJukeBox.com (#12), file-sharing software, and ZingFriends.com (#7), a Singapore-based MP3 newsletter. ZeroPaid.com again made the Top Ten URLs (#1).
Special mention to a site that didn't quite make the Top Ten, but appears to be doing yeoman's work in its space, creating a value-added services in cyberspace: Ampcast.com (#11, URLs, #83, Domains). This Mystic, CT-based site offers musicians on the fringe, those without big record deals, bands that travel around and others, a chance to provide their often unique and lyrical sounds to new audiences. Moreover, Ampcast.com, offers very clear information to users about its history, purpose and mission. It's navigable and user-friendly.
Miscellaneous: major companies that scored high on our earlier report, using few keywords and phrases, included Apple (#66, Domains). Kazaa didn't make Top Ten Domains or URLs, but did crop up on the URLs list, fairly high up...to find out exactly where, get the full report from us. We were a little surprised to see bearshare.com MIA in this report. This space bears watching, however, as a combination of technical, legal, economic and user-driven factors are continuing to roil the waters of file-sharing, music-downloading and the music business, in general. Stay tuned...
__________________________________________________
**The SPI measures who's winning the web via a proprietary algorithm that calculates websites' exposure to particular topics via keywords. The algorithm weights various factors to come up with a score, which is used to rank the sites in the index. To see the complete index for this topic, for more information about SPI, or to purchase a customized SPI for your niche or business, please write us at WhatRank?.
Search Penetration Index, SPI and "Who's Winning the Web" are trademarks of WR Media, Somerville, MA. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. Other marks, brands and websites mentioned in this column and the SPI report are not affiliated with WR Media and are the property of their respective owners.
