Pakistani Startup Profile: WiXD
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WiXD is a one of the first community based web startups focused on the Pakistani market, and I think it could be on to something.
It is a community where people in Pakistan can upload their music and share it with their friends.
The idea isn’t new, especially globally, but I like the super-clean treatment of it on the website. I also really like the embeddable music player they have made, which lets you embed a song of your choice from WiXD onto your website and blog.
What gets really interesting, however, is the potential this platform can have in promoting underground music in Pakistan. If WiXD adds a few more features — such as a better rating system (think Digg) and dedicated artist pages (think MySpace) then it will have the potential of giving the underground music talent in Pakistan a spot to shine and breakthrough.
After building up its platform, WiXD plans on supporting underground bands even with a virtual storefront — which would be interesting to see as a business model. I think that can work in particular among ex-pats looking for the latest music from Pakistan.
Targeting the underground is also important because upcoming artists are much more open to their content being shared. Without such a model, WiXD runs the risk of becoming another distribution channel for piracy, which can put them in pretty serious copyright infringement waters.
Even if that becomes an issue, one good thing they have on their side is that they do not actually allow downloading or digital distribution of copyrighted music, only playback. That in itself could create some interesting business models that play with the quality of the files.
Finally, it will also be interesting to see if their community thinks of more interesting uses of their platform — such as sharing poems and thought ala The Chowk, or sharing and promoting audio lectures in universities.
Regardless, I think they have a great technical engine that can allow them to do a lot over the next few months.
Side Note: Some additional things I like about WiXD is the fact that they are using a blog to communicate right from day 1, and are updating it frequently — that is a great way for a company to connect with communities.
Next: I’ll write my analysis of WiXD as a product (I told you I can’t resist that)
5:39 pm
Thank you for your review. Its great to get your feedback regarding WiXD. We have seen great growth in our 2 weeks since launch. Over 1,600 songs have been uploaded to WiXD and members are increasing by hours.
We will keep you updated on our upcoming site updates.