MUMBAI: Fast growing Indian website Muziboo.com recently won the Facebook Connect integration contest, and with that, has taken home the prize of $4000.
The second prize for applications went to Athul Luthra of PVR Cinemas for designing an application that allowed users to book tickets participate in polls and watch trailers on the popular networking site. Thousands of portals with integrated applications on Facebook took part in the facebook contest that started in July 2009. A qualified jury was appointed by Facebook to select two winners for each of two prize pools, one for Facebook platform applications for use on the Facebook Site ('Site Apps') and one for Facebook Connect integrations with the Facebook Site ('Connect Integration Apps').
The winners were selected on parameters like - Originality of idea, Market potential of Application, Social aspects of the Application, Usefulness of Application, Expressive features of Application, Intuitiveness and ease of use of Application and Potential for further development of Application.
Muziboo, that stood first, is an audio sharing platform for musicians, podcasters and sound professionals. The website was founded by Bangalore based music enthusiasts and software professionals Prateek Dayal and Nithya Dayal in July 2007. In a span of two years, the website has received enormous response from amatuer and pro musicians for their various integrated features.
Speaking about the win, Muziboo co-founder Nithya Dayal says, "We wanted our members to be able to post their creations in their Facebook page, and to be able to showcase their work to their friends and family who are not in Muziboo. Last but not the least, it was also to win the $4000.00 prize money and gain exposure from it."
Given Facebook's popularity around the world, its understood that programmes that are integrated through Facebook also get noticed, Dayal agrees, "There is a huge credibility added to Muziboo's name when we get recognized by a biggie like Facebook. Going far beyond the obvious, this recognition/ association is symbiotic, though undoubtedly Muziboo stands to gain more – there cannot be any pretensions on that count."
However, Dayal doesn't believe it was the just the application that got them the recognition, "What we have been awarded for is more about what we have achieved in the last two years and the quantum of traffic that we have in Muziboo and the percentage of them that could post their work in Facebook."
According to experts in the industry, FB is looking for a better market share in India as Orkut rules the roost here. And even though Indian audience is just 20 per cent of the total, their participation, its believed to be 80 per cent. "We would like to get this imbalance addressed by having a more American and or European participation in the site. That can be achieved by our recognition by Facebook," she believes.
Presently, Muziboo.com follows a revenue earning model that charges $49.95 per year charge for members who want to upload more than 10 songs. Also, pro members get better streaming facilities, private sharing option (the most admired feature) and advertisement free pages. "We make handsome money with this model, which propels our growth without any need for investments. The quality of musicians is so good, we had to introduce on demand a 'Gift a Pro' feature to help some listeners who wanted to show their appreciation," she reveals.
It was the husband-wife team that worked for on the popular portal meant for music enthusiasts. Does this mean the hard work is finally paying off? "It has been a very exciting journey so far. We are very fortunate to have members who evangelize Muziboo to bring in more musicians and music lovers," she says.
Send in your comments to: chirag.sutar@indiantelevision.co.in
MUMBAI: Fast growing Indian website Muziboo.com recently won the Facebook Connect integration contest, and with that, has taken home the prize of $4000.
The second prize for applications went to Athul Luthra of PVR Cinemas for designing an application that allowed users to book tickets participate in polls and watch trailers on the popular networking site. Thousands of portals with integrated applications on Facebook took part in the facebook contest that started in July 2009. A qualified jury was appointed by Facebook to select two winners for each of two prize pools, one for Facebook platform applications for use on the Facebook Site ('Site Apps') and one for Facebook Connect integrations with the Facebook Site ('Connect Integration Apps').
The winners were selected on parameters like - Originality of idea, Market potential of Application, Social aspects of the Application, Usefulness of Application, Expressive features of Application, Intuitiveness and ease of use of Application and Potential for further development of Application.
Muziboo, that stood first, is an audio sharing platform for musicians, podcasters and sound professionals. The website was founded by Bangalore based music enthusiasts and software professionals Prateek Dayal and Nithya Dayal in July 2007. In a span of two years, the website has received enormous response from amatuer and pro musicians for their various integrated features.
Speaking about the win, Muziboo co-founder Nithya Dayal says, "We wanted our members to be able to post their creations in their Facebook page, and to be able to showcase their work to their friends and family who are not in Muziboo. Last but not the least, it was also to win the $4000.00 prize money and gain exposure from it."
Given Facebook's popularity around the world, its understood that programmes that are integrated through Facebook also get noticed, Dayal agrees, "There is a huge credibility added to Muziboo's name when we get recognized by a biggie like Facebook. Going far beyond the obvious, this recognition/ association is symbiotic, though undoubtedly Muziboo stands to gain more – there cannot be any pretensions on that count."
However, Dayal doesn't believe it was the just the application that got them the recognition, "What we have been awarded for is more about what we have achieved in the last two years and the quantum of traffic that we have in Muziboo and the percentage of them that could post their work in
Facebook."
According to experts in the industry, FB is looking for a better market share in India as Orkut rules the roost here. And even though Indian audience is just 20 per cent of the total, their participation, its believed to be 80 per cent. "We would like to get this imbalance addressed by having a more American and or European participation in the site. That can be achieved by our recognition by Facebook," she believes.
Presently, Muziboo.com follows a revenue earning model that charges $49.95 per year charge for members who want to upload more than 10 songs. Also, pro members get better streaming facilities, private sharing option (the most admired feature) and advertisement free pages. "We make handsome money with this model, which propels our growth without any need for investments. The quality of musicians is so good, we had to introduce on demand a 'Gift a Pro' feature to help some listeners who wanted to show their appreciation," she reveals.
It was the husband-wife team that worked for on the popular portal meant for music enthusiasts. Does this mean the hard work is finally paying off? "It has been a very exciting journey so far. We are very fortunate to have members who evangelize Muziboo to bring in more musicians and music lovers," she says.
Send in your comments to: chirag.sutar@indiantelevision.co.in
