We try to curate a broad and varied selection at popX, so although the brand path it presents is not too techy, Love.fm is just such a pure brand that we’ve added it to the current rotation.

What is an .FM domain?

It also gives exposure to a ccTLD that has been adopted by some astute players and which, like its .TV counterpart, offers a clear and natural use case to the savvy marketer. And so allows for very targeted messaging from the outset.

.FM is hot among radio station, podcasters and various niches in and around the music industry — such as event guides, promotion, ticketing, merch, recording, etc. There are naturally a plethora of stations operating on .FM, but it’s insightful to take a look at what else is going on..

Who is using an .FM domain?

A site like Dice.fm is a good example of such music scene use cases, an exchange platform built for ticket reselling on the secondary market. Or Squadcast.fm, an in-browser cloud-based studio and Player.fm, an organizer tool for podcasters. With sites like Transistor.fm and Setlist.fm focusing on providing backend podcast analytics. Music marketing is also a common use case, as in the case of Feature.fm.

The playful arena of the .FM extension if prime sandbox ground for innovative projects loosely related in some way to the music. Tastebuds.fm hosts a dating website for music fans. An interesting avenue being explored, and, indeed, something in the lucrative dating or connection-making niches, would be a well-aligned use case for Love.fm.

Nudge Ahead ↝

In a world of so many playful plays, hot new extensions and creative domain hacks, there is a lot to be said for the straightforward approach, as it can be refreshing to the user. While injecting into the brand just enough freshness for it be fresh, something you note first time out, find kind ogf unique and cool, then need not think too much about it ever again.

The points with the user have been scored. Your brand has managed to notch up that tiny little edge, nudging just that little bit above the sea of messages swamping the jaded consumer.

They reckon we come into contact with approx 10,000 ads per day..that’s a lot of brands to remember. So, never sniff at minutiae. Leverage anything that could potentially help you stand out, without risking much downside exposure. No need to reinvent the wheel, just find solid spoke and ride it. Work the right domain name and you may not even need ads.

The Broader Appeal of .FM

We’re already seeing major players keen to use .FM to take a step towards own the broadcasting side of a keyword. Bloomberg, for example, has taken Business.fm off the market, with others making brand defensive moves like Booking.fm redirecting to the Booking.com homepage or Python.fm to Python.org.

Off the-label use is also continuing to grow, with startups like the ask.fm app, a global social network built on a Q&A format, finding useful messaging in deploying on .FM. Clarity.fm, an expert advice center for startups, is also operating in this vein, running their offering as Clarity For Me. Indeed, Clarity Experts have fielded some useful questions on why they felt Clarity elected to brand on a .FM domain.

As regards the .FM domains in the current popX rotation, you encouraged to check out the in-depth domain reviews of the oh so Smooth.fm, the equally as soothing Easy.fm, and the toe-twitching Tap.fm.

Extras:Logo. .FM profile package.

Touchwords:Lean. Luscious. Lavish.

Domain Extension Adoption Period

Seeing such non-music related projects onboard .FM bodes well for its future. As it means that nondescript spillover is already occurring. This is important, as it can be tricky for an emerging extension to gain clout at first, as there’s a familiarization period — and if people are good at anything, it’s not changing until they fear being left behind.

During the early stages of adoption, much of the value of the extension tends to have a more direct link to the quality and standing of the individual projects already operating on the extension — and the industry/financial clout and vision of those behind them. The path towards critical mass must necessarily pass through this segment.

Sustaining the Growth of .FM

For, it is said, nobody wants to be first and nobody wants to be last. So there are a greater number of less self-assured and/or more constrained marketers watching from the sidelines earlier on. While their progressive counterparts make their move, and reap disproportionate comparative advantage — precisely of the indecision of others.

The clear initial use case of .FM, has meant that the base for wider adoption has already been put it. The eyes of users already in the know are accustomed to the extension and wider use case spillover is consistently occurring.

So, .FM can already be said to have carved out its own niche and range, regardless of whether the floodgates do open and the extension starts recording sales seen in hot commodities like .XYZ and .IO (the highest publicly recorded sale price for an .FM domain currently stands in the low five figures).

The Love.fm Brand

Contemplating the branding proposition of Love.fm and how this digital asset should be best used, one sees a vast array of angles that can be played. This is because of the generic, all-encompassing nature of the bulletproof keyword, but also the aforementioned innovative (and often off-center) ways in which the .FM extension is lending itself to real-world use.

Love.fm is a short, beautiful and superpositive brand set in an intriguing domain extension imbued with instant connotative recognition and which continues to gain traction among high-value consumers. It’s a domain that makes an immediate impression in one way or another, so it’s up to you to decide whether your offering will benefit from this head-on effect.

As for the offering itself, the keyword is so common and culturally imbued keyword that there are really so many directions you can take you brand story. This flexibility is taken to next level, too, as Love.fm is another ’empty vessel domain’, leaving you the room needed to brand it the way YOU want.

Time to spread the love?