.LIVE in .STUDIO is Where The Magic Happens

Two new Top Level Domains (TLDs) just entered General Availability at 5pm today: .LIVE and .STUDIO.

If you’re involved in broadcasting, media, art or dance, or creative work of any kind, the studio is where the magic happens. Now there’s a domain to describe that special space online.

One of the most profound revolutions of the Internet has been the ability to stream live audio and video right around the world. Once the exclusive preserve of major corporations, now anyone can broadcast live from a smartphone. We’ve got TV stations in our pockets.

I’ve worked in media for over 25 years. A lot of that work is pre-recorded: radio documentaries and podcasts, living forever online, part of the long tail of content, indexed and searchable and available on-demand. I’m a big fan of podcasts, of content that I can pause, rewind, and consume when and where I please.

But there’s still something special about ‘live’: in theatre or street entertainment, in radio or TV, or watching streamed pictures from across the world. Knowing that the moment is special because it is shared.

When you’re in the studio and the red light comes on, it’s a moment full of potential. I was a teenager when I did my first live show at a pirate radio station in County Kerry. I sweated furiously as I prepared the ad breaks, and worked to line up the next record before the current song ended. When I came out after 45 minutes on air, I was a different person: forever addicted to the adrenaline of the live broadcast.

Over the years I’ve been in studios as breaking news was announced; shared good news and bad; and felt that connection with the community. These days the technical side is no more than the click of a mouse. (That radio station in 1988 didn’t have a single computer.) But the excitement when the light goes red never changes.

No second chances – no rehearsals. We’re live. Right now! On air.

Anything can happen.

Got some magic you want to share online? Register your .LIVE and .STUDIO domain names at Blacknight for just €17.99.

Bonus: Check out our Technology.ie podcast series. Subscribe with iTunes or RSS.