.music
proposed generic top-level domain
.music is a community-based top-level domain name (TLD) operated for the benefit of the global music community. It was one of the most highly contested new gTLDs, with eight applicants in contention.
On April 17, 2019, the .MUSIC registry, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs, the International Federation of Musicians, the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Music Publishers' Association, The Recording Academy, the Independent Music Companies Association, the Worldwide Independent Network, the American Association of Independent Music, the NSAI, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), and the Independent Music Publishers International Forum (IMPF) announced that the global music community based application, that was supported by a global music coalition with members representing over 95% of global music consumed, was approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The .MUSIC registry agreement was signed on May 4, 2021.
Applicants
.MUSIC
Google (Charleston Road Registry Inc.)
Amazon
Donuts (Victor Cross)
Far Further
Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. (TLDH) and LHL TLD Investment Partners
Radix
Famous Four MediaGRS Domains
.MUSIC
A community priority application was applied for by .MUSIC under the legal name of DotMusic. MUSIC was headed by Constantine Roussos, who launched the .MUSIC Initiative in 2005 to gather support from the global music community for a petition to ICANN for the rights of .MUSIC. Associated organizations included the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), and the National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM). The initiative's objectives included:
Music education
Fighting piracy
Promoting the arts and global music
Innovation in music and the internet space
Promoting competition
The team planned to operate the .music TLD using a multi-stakeholder approach. A portion of the revenue generated from registrations was marked for donation to selected non-profit music organizations. These registrations would be restricted to .MUSIC-accredited Community Member Organizations (MCMOs).
The public source identifies “.music” as proposed generic top-level domain. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around music, proposed and generic.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “.music”, the useful work is to connect “proposed generic top-level domain” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4545454. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2019, 2021 and 2005.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “.music”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow .music primary sources, .music archive and music research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “.music”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “.music” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.