.MUSIC, the top-level domain exclusively for the music community, has announced it's offering 1 million free .MUSIC domains to members of the music industry until May 24th, 2024 to address the music identities and intellectual property protection issues. On June 25, 2024, the .MUSIC domain will launch globally on a first-come, first-served basis at retail prices set by ICANN-accredited domain registrars and resellers.
The launch of .MUSIC strives to enhance online identity verification for the music world, followed as a response to a decade of efforts to secure the exclusive rights to .MUSIC and collaborate with the music industry on policy development.
The aim of the free domain giveaway is to accelerate adoption within the music industry, providing artists, labels, publishers, and other stakeholders with a risk-free opportunity to secure their intellectual property and establish a verified online presence. Just like .EDU or .GOV, .MUSIC aims to become a trusted authority in the domain name space that offers a level of identity verification. Similarly, a .MUSIC domain will assure music audiences that they are interacting with the real and official music artist, industry professional, organization or brand, not an impersonator, fraudster or AI bot.
Many popular music brands and artists have already started registering their .MUSIC domain names, as shared in the press release. Among those are Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Whitney Houston, Universal, Sony, Warner, Spotify, Soundcloud, Deezer, Tencent, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Apple, Google, YouTube, Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Amazon, Twitch, Reddit, Coachella, iHeart, CBS, NBC, MGM, Shopify, Hilton, Uber, BMW, Rolex, Prada, Andreesen Horowitz, a16z and many others.
"The .MUSIC Registry’s objective is to ensure intellectual property is secured and protected. This campaign gives the global music industry a risk-free opportunity to protect their intellectual property and claim their names at no cost, ensuring that the right names are allocated to the right music artists, people, companies and brands," the press release reads.
If you're a part of any music organisation, you can sign up at Partner Music to secure free .MUSIC domains to your entire membership or customer base (including labels, publishers, songwriters, artists, musicians, bands, band members, industry professionals and staff members) prior to the May 24 deadline. Eligible organisations include digital distributors, music associations, collection societies, digital service providers, performing rights organizations, and any type of music organization or company with a membership or customer base.
Note that there's a one-time $1.99 third-party identity verification fee that may be applied if a member cannot be properly verified to prevent impersonators, fraudsters, squatters and bots from registering others' names.
".MUSIC is not just another domain name. It is a trusted, safe and verified music-centric Internet for the global music community and industry to securely connect, engage and transact," says .MUSIC Founder and CEO Constantine Roussos in the press release. "The value proposition for the global music industry is complete ownership of their brand names and platform under their verified and credible name.MUSIC. It is now time for artists to take full ownership of their digital music identity, their online assets and fan relationships under a trusted and verified MusicID. Our objective for this once in a lifetime global campaign is to make sure the right names get to the right people at zero cost or risk to the global music community. Once you lose your name, it is nearly impossible to get it back. We are trying to proactively solve this problem."
"As the only verified digital identity provider for the global music community, we are proud to give music artists, industry professionals, organizations, and leading global brands the unique opportunity to protect their name, image, likeness and voice, and to prevent fraudsters, impersonators, squatters, AI clones and bots by claiming their verified MusicID," says Marina Roussou, Executive Director of id.MUSIC, the exclusive global music identity provider for .MUSIC.
.MUSIC registrants will also get two additional free brand-building my.MUSIC services that are unique to the music industry: a SmartBadge and a SmartPage. After identity verification, all .MUSIC registrants will receive their SmartBadge, a verified digital business card with a unique QR code that can be embedded openly anywhere (e.g. email, websites, social media, media etc,) and securely points to their SmartPage, where all their verified music credentials, information and work can be displayed in one central location under their name.MUSIC domain. It is a trusted meeting point, where everyone safely connects, interacts and transacts directly with you, your work and your services and puts you in charge.
"Being verified on TikTok, Instagram, or X only means something on those closed social networks. The global music community is forever locked into their walled-garden and ecosystem," says my.MUSIC co-CEO Peter Lee. "Artists can place their .MUSIC SmartBadge anywhere, including official websites, social networks and media to let fans know that whatever they are distributing is official and came from them, not a fake account. With this universal verified source of truth, artists can protect their brand and intellectual property online."
Registrants can control what content others see and the vetted destinations they would like to send everyone to (e.g. links to new music releases, official website, merch, tickets, videos and other verified content).
