Jazz.ca — building something with a domain I actually love (3.Viewing)

Hey DN,

I got lucky to pick up jazz.ca recently. After some reflection I've decided to develop it rather than park it waiting for a buyer.

I grew up with jazz sounds constantly filling our 900 square foot apartment in Moscow. Back in the Soviet era, my dad was one of the first people in the city to get a VHS player, and he'd get hold of underground tapes of American jazz greats (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, you name it). Foreign music was largely censored, so our little apartment would often get packed with friends and friends of friends just to listen and watch. After the Soviet collapse, my dad went on to promote and organize jazz events around Moscow for a short period of time. That history means something to me, and it feels right to carry it forward with jazz.ca.

As I did a bit of research prior to placing a bid, Canada is actually a pretty remarkable home for the genre. It hosts the world's largest jazz festival (Montreal Jazz Fest), attracting over 2 million visitors annually (sounds lunatic, right?). It is due to these type of events that Canada's music tourism market is forecasted to grow from $3.51 billion in 2024 to $13.16 billion by 2032. Canada's music market grew at roughly twice the pace of the U.S. market in 2023. Music market revenue reached nearly $700mln USD. The broader Canadian live entertainment market was valued at $19.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $32.65 billion by 2033.

Do any of these names sound familiar: Oscar Peterson, Diana Krall, Gil Evans, Oliver Jones? All of them are considered to be one of the greats and all of them are Canadian.

The plan is to build jazz.ca as a Canadian jazz platform. A place for fans, venues, and musicians. Hopefully I'll be able to launch something before the jazz fest season. So if you're a jazz fan, jazz-curious, or simply would like to support, I'd love to invite you to sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date.

Jazz.ca

Artashes said:

I got lucky to pick up jazz.ca recently.

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You practically stole that domain, I actually quite jealous.

What a fantastic domain - super jealous and happy for you! I also wanted to get it for the sole purpose of developing it into THE place for everything jazz in Canada. Will be watching the progress from the sidelines with curiosity! Congratulations and happy it ended up the right hands!

it’s also a great brand name that can be used unrelated to the music.

Thanks, guys. @Brandit , all my overtime goes into it right now. Staying up late, putting together thoughts, ideas, list of people to reach out to, venues to meet, talent to collaborate with. I have absolutely no idea whether all this effort and/or monetization pays off, but I am loving it regardless.

Frankly, I didn't think I was going to win it anyway and I placed the one and only bid on it. Here is how it happened.

I actually had an online streaming event that I was hosting and moderating that was starting publicly at exactly 2PM, so I knew I'd never be able to pay attention to the auction, which by definition would have automatically made me lose if someone else bid higher. When I placed the whatever-happens-but-won't-win-anyway bid 4 minutes prior to auction end time, I was already engaged with panel speakers, had all my devices on Do Not Disturb mode and screens on event's dashboard and my notes. For the next two hours I forgot that I even placed a bid, so imagine my disbelief when I opened my inbox after the event to an email from Grape congratulating me on winning the auction. It felt like such a fluke I had to triple check if the information was accurate.

I don't think it's a fluke - I think it's a destiny or a sign (gift) from the universe! You gotta grab onto it and build it into a massive success now, no other options!!

Artashes said:

Thanks, guys. @Brandit , all my overtime goes into it right now. Staying up late, putting together thoughts, ideas, list of people to reach out to, venues to meet, talent to collaborate with. I have absolutely no idea whether all this effort and/or monetization pays off, but I am loving it regardless.

Frankly, I didn't think I was going to win it anyway and I placed the one and only bid on it. Here is how it happened.

I actually had an online streaming event that I was hosting and moderating that was starting publicly at exactly 2PM, so I knew I'd never be able to pay attention to the auction, which by definition would have automatically made me lose if someone else bid higher. When I placed the whatever-happens-but-won't-win-anyway bid 4 minutes prior to auction end time, I was already engaged with panel speakers, had all my devices on Do Not Disturb mode and screens on event's dashboard and my notes. For the next two hours I forgot that I even placed a bid, so imagine my disbelief when I opened my inbox after the event to an email from Grape congratulating me on winning the auction. It felt like such a fluke I had to triple check if the information was accurate.

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