18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Without music life would be a mistake... - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

In a world where Music is a part of daily life, Musicians are household names, Bands are defining icons, and Lyrics have lead to revolutions. Music is also one of the most defining industries, marking out different eras for Man.

The Mission of .Music is to serve as the online home for the Music Industry and all associated entities. As an industry, music has always been dependent on the distribution methods and how it reached its audiences. It has undergone a rapid transformation with the ushering in of the digital age and the internet. The Internet is now an effective medium of selling music, and it has created closer relationships between the Industry and their audiences. In todayʹs digital age, the industry has turned to the internet as its primary medium of choice, and .Music will further this association.

While it is primarily meant to cater to the needs of everyone associated with the Music industry - Musicians, Bands & Record Labels .Music will also serve entities at the periphery of the industry venues, Djs and other professionals that provide Music entertainment. .Music is also for Music lovers and audiences all over the world. There are streaming sites, music aggregators, online radios, music blogs etc., which cater to audiences worldwide who listen to Music.

Also, based on our analysis of the Com⁄Net zone file, there are over half a million domain names with the word “Music” in them. We believe there is a need for a dedicated space which will cater to this transforming Industry’s growing online dependence for representation, promotion and sustenance. .Music will serve this purpose. We see .Music becoming every Artist and Record Labels default choice to represent their business and interact with their fans. No other gTLD existing today, satisfies this requirement.

The digital era has really transformed business models in this industry. Digital channels now account for 29 per cent of global music industry revenues (^2). These channels primarily consist of online sales of albums, (digital and physical), subscription services, paid downloads etc.

But, there is no doubt that sudden move to digitization of content has come at a price. Internet piracy, due to ineffective intellectual property protection, has been rampant across all existing tlds.
Lost revenue through piracy has led to an overall decline in jobs. Based on data from the US Dept. of Labor, the industry employs 20% less people than it did in 1999.

Protection of intellectual property rights within .music, will be one of our key objectives. We have drawn out policies which will go above and beyond ICANN requirements and aim to keep the space clear of illegitimate use.

.Music aims to be the perfect marriage between man’s oldest passion - Music, and his latest obsession, the Internet.

In summary, the .Music Registry also aims to:

1.1 ENHANCE SEARCHABILITY AND RECOGNITION

To create a namespace that enables the music industry to distinguish themselves from countless others. This benefits the Registrants as well as the end users. End users will be able to find music related content easily amongst the sea of other sites.

1.2 ENHANCE REGISTRANT CHOICE

To create a namespace that provides the music industry greater choice to represent their brand online in the manner they please. Due to the saturated nature of the existing gTLD space many have to opt for a name that does not best reflect their brand.

1.3 CREATE A CLEANER INTERNET SPACE

To create a cleaner internet experience for end users by implementing pioneering registration policies, content and usage policies, and abuse mitigation processes.

1.4 CREATE A STABLE AND RESILIENT INTERNET SPACE

To deliver a stable and resilient internet experience to registrants and end-users by going above and beyond the ICANN mandated SLAs and delivering 100% resolution uptime.

External References:
(^1) http:⁄⁄www.prnewswire.com⁄news-releases⁄myspace-and-zazzle-sign-custom-on-demand-music-merchandise-deal-58959862.html
(^2) IFPI Digital Music Report - 2011 (http:⁄⁄www.ifpi.org⁄content⁄library⁄DMR2011.pdf)

This completes our response to Q18(a).

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