.Music domains may finally be a reality

For bands and artists, the process of registering a domain name has long been a frustrating one, with many of the relevant .com names having already been scooped up by early adopters. That could soon change, however, after the company DotMusic finally won out in a battle to register .music domains.

Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0

If you’ve ever tried to register a domain you know that it can be a frustrating experience. Unless you grabbed your preferred name back way when websites were just taking off, chances are that the name you want is already taken. That leaves you to either using a modified domain name (bobbyowsinskilive.com instead of bobbyowsinski.com, for instance) or an undesirable domain extension like .org or .pro. This could soon change for musicians as it looks like .music domains could soon become a reality.

In 2019 a company called DotMusic actually won a battle with heavyweights like Amazon and Google for the rights to register .music domains. Since then the company is gearing up for the official release, which was [scheduled] for 2020 until the pandemic got in the way.

If things go as planned, having a .music domain will be more beneficial than almost any other extension. This is because DotMusic promises to vet all registry applications to eliminate cybersquatting, or people registering a domain and holding it to sell at a later date. If someone takes a .music name but isn’t actually in the music business, they can lose the domain to a proven legitimate entity.

To illustrate how important that is, did you know that queen.com isn’t owned by the band Queen? And kiss.com is owned by the band and is a dating site? Even Justin Bieber has the same problem as justinbieber.com is owned by a blogger. With a .music domain those problems could go away.

.Music is supported by just about every major music association, from IFPI to the RIAA to the Recording Academy to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, so you can feel comfortable in that this is truly being groomed as something exclusively for the music community.

As far as who’s can register, DotMusic mentions “artists/bands, major labels, independent labels, publishers, songwriters, performance rights organizations, music collection societies, music unions, music managers, music agents, music promoters, government ministries of culture, music/arts councils, music export offices, music associations, music radio and many other constituent types.”

You can pre-register for a domain and find out more details at music.us. No idea what the actual costs will end up being but pre-registration is free. More news as it develops, but you can watch the brief video below for the basics.