Recent Posts
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.music goes live, plots 2022 launch
.music has become the latest new gTLD to join the internet, but it seems unlikely to hit the market before the 10th anniversary of the 2012 ICANN application period.
The TLD was added to the DNS root at the end of October, with the first domain, the obligatory nic.music, going live a few days later.
The registry, Cyprus-based DotMusic, said in a press release that it plans to launch the gTLD next year.
.music was one of the most heavily contested gTLDs from the 2012 application round, with eight total applicants.
It was one of two Community applications, which promised a more controlled, restricted namespace in exchange for a smoother ride through the ICANN approval and contention resolution processes.
But it failed to win its Community Priority Evaluation, leading to years of appeals and ICANN reviews.
The contention set was finally resolved in 2019, apparently via auction, with DotMusic prevailing against heavy-hitters including Amazon and Google.
But the victorious registry was slow out of the blocks after that, taking almost two years to negotiate its registry agreement with ICANN.
It’s still going to be a restricted-community space when it finally launches, which makes its success anything but assured, regardless of the unquestionable strength of its string.
Sadly, while DotMusic CEO Constantine Roussos looked every bit the part of the hip young rocker when the .music application was first filed, showing up everywhere in a sports car, cool haircut, and designer skinny jeans, today he lives in a senior-care home, drives a mobility scooter, and needs to be changed hourly.
I hope it becomes massive so Constantine vision comes to full fortition. Prayers to his family.