When college students throw down, there is no doubt that the most crucial factor for a raging night is the perfect playlist. Nothing impacts a party more than music, and all it takes is one ill-chosen tune to completely ruin an otherwise bumping atmosphere.
Luckily, thanks to fratmusic.com, an increasingly popular site for party music, you will never have to rely on your iPod's shuffle feature again. What most University students do not realize, though, is that the site's owners and contributors are fellow Wahoos.
Created last fall by an independent programmer in California, the domain was a simple acquisition for fourth-year College student John Devor. The site's purchase began as a side project from his previously established personal business, thelittleappfactory.com. Devor then enlisted the help of fourth-year Engineering student Omar Bohsali to work on technical improvements, fourth-year Commerce student Mark McDonald to develop a business plan and fourth-year College student Nate Maddrey to revamp the song choices.
Since January, the four have been working to transform fratmusic.com into a go-to source for college party tracks.
"We want to act as an authority for popular music on college campuses," Bohsali said.
The site includes mixes for all of the typical college environments: studying, relaxing and, of course, partying. But whether you're listening to the "Study Mix" while cramming for a final or pregaming to the "Complete Party Mix," the site's real strength is that it features both tried-and-true student favorites and tracks that might be more unknown to the average music fan.
But ultimately, the site is listener-driven. Users now can showcase their own musical expertise by submitting their own playlists. Think you created the perfect dance mix for your party last weekend? Send in your playlist, and if other listeners appreciate your tastes, you could see your tracks voted into the site's Hall of Fame.
"The goal is for the site to be completely community based," Maddrey said. "We're not trying to be elitist with our taste. If a song is popular and people want to hear it, we'll play it."
If statistics are any indication, the alterations have been nothing but successful thus far, as fratmusic.com's traffic has more than doubled during the past month alone. The site's traffic of about 30,000 unique visitors a day now hovers closely to the level that attracts advertisers - not a small feat for a group of undergraduate students running the operation during their spare time. McDonald has taken the lead on a marketing plan to expound on the increasing buzz.
"Until now, we've done no direct advertising - all of our advertising has been done through word-of-mouth," McDonald said. "We're hoping a marketing campaign will push us to the point that we can open up a few different revenue streams."
Though the fiscal ambitions of the site's owners remain to be seen, there is no doubt that fratmusic.com has the potential to act as an essential resource for all types of college music fans - from a fraternity's social chair in need of a techno playlist for a Eurotrash party to an indie kid looking for some fresh acoustic tracks.
If Devor has his way, there is no limit to just how well-known the site will become among college students.
"I want the site to be so popular that I can walk into a caf
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