About Us & .music Initiative

Music.us will be launching the .music generic top-level domain (gTLD) name extension for the music community on the web. The community-based bid, led by Constantine George Roussos of Cyprus, will be given for approval to ICANN, the governing body that oversees the Internet. The Music.us initiative for .music will be community-based, involving music stakeholders from across the world, irrespective of size or financial strength, taking a “bottom-up” approach.

Music.us has been developing the .music next generation ecosystem platform since 2004, and has been lobbying ICANN for the release of the extension, including sponsoring the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers.

Using the “bottom-up” methodology, Music.us has received nearly 1,250,000 signatures from the at-large music and web community who support the launch of the .music top-level domain extension. The .music initiative amassed over 1.2 million friends on Myspace, making it one of the most popular Myspace profiles ever, as well as over 400,000 followers across all .music Twitter profiles.

The .music initiative to launch the .music top-level domain for the music community on the web includes:

1. Forming a dynamic network of music organizations, associations, arts councils and individuals who share knowledge and work towards enriching society with artistic and cultural diversity;
2. Supporting music education as an integral part of school curriculum;
3. Creating a healthier music ecosystem through communication & collaboration;
4. Maintaining a “bottom-up” approach in policy-making that endorses best practices, fairness and neutral governance;
5. Promoting the value of creativity in the community;
6. Improving the quality of music policy discussions by facilitating access to and interaction between music organizations and experts;
7. Supporting the appreciation, understanding and the enjoyment of music ;
8. Fostering the freedom of expression, identity and consciousness through music;
9. Promoting music diversity and the exchange of cultures and traditions to uphold understanding, peace and a pluralistic society irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation or religion;
10. Strengthening infrastructures for local arts programs and building networks internationally to aid in the social, cultural and economic growth of music;
11. Raising awareness and supporting key programs related to the advancement of music as an art;
12. Strengthening the ability of global music associations and non-profit arts’ organizations to meet the challenges and opportunities of globalization and technological change;
13. Introducing a marketplace for rights holders to monetize on their works and assisting in job creation;
14. Offering endorsers affiliate partnership programs to stir economic growth within the music community;
15. Protecting the copyrights and intellectual capital of music works;
16. Advocating musicians’ rights and fair compensation for their works;
17. Encouraging new business models that align with the new digital and mobile age;
18. Fostering an ever increasing digital marketplace in music and assisting in the long-term development, growth and success of the global music industry;
19. Building a sustainable mentoring system where established music experts act as mentors for those less knowledgeable in the music industry;
20. Developing and promoting opportunities for local and international music artists and organizations;
21. Focusing on promoting all artists, those who are established and those who are yet to be discovered;
22. Improving the visibility of artists and their music;
23. Recognizing excellence in the field of music;

The Music.us community initiative for .music is led by musicians, bands, artists, producers, engineers, managers, record labels, publishers, promoters, performance rights organizations, government music export offices & arts councils, industry associations, non-profit organizations, music societies, broadcasters, DJs, podcasters, studios, retailers, music conferences & expos, digital aggregators, digital stores, instrument & music software manufacturers, distributors, educational universities & institutions, music educators, researchers, music consultants, researchers, music lawyers, journalists, writers, music community websites and other music industry professionals.

As part of our “bottom-up” approach, we are inviting select organizations to form the .music rotating advisory board that will support our efforts as well as advise us on policy-making and the overall administration of the top-level domain extension. By taking into consideration feedback from different constituents from the global music industry and employing the “bottom-up” approach, the .music initiative will ensure that all music stakeholders have a voice in the development and launch process of the .music top-level domain extension.

 

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