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

Prototypical answer:

The mission of .music is to collaboratively grow a domain that serves artists, songwriters and music professionals; promotes music, and nurtures the art… all for the love of music.

Music is one of the few experiences that is both truly unique to our species and common across all people. Music is such a defining aspect of humanity that when we talk with others about music we ask them what kind of music they like, never whether they like music. One needs look no further than ICANN itself for an example of the power of music to communicate and unite. Nearly every host committee has used music to introduce participants from around the world to its country’s culture, languages and even belief systems. Music is so central to what makes us human that it’s hard to imagine a human being without a relationship with music in some shape, form or expression.

Over the course of history, music has had various statures at different times and with different peoples. At times, the musician and their creations have been upheld and admired, banned and rejected, rewarded, punished, supported, and impoverished. Yet, throughout this turbulent and tenuous relationship we have continued to crave music as a fundamental fulfillment of self.

Today, we are in an age of appreciation for the art of music. It is a significant force in modern cultures and even a significant force in our economic productivity. Nonetheless, resource constraints challenge our ability to educate musicians and audiences alike. While new technologies have played a central role in increasing the global availability of diverse musical traditions in recent years, we have yet to fully tap into the power of that same technology to sustain and nurture music, musical creators, and their audiences. As T. S. Elliot once said: “You are the music while the music lasts.”

The fundamental purpose of .music is to help ensure that the music CAN last. The mission of .music is to serve artists, musicians, songwriters and music professionals that support them through a Top-Level Domain (TLD) that promotes music and nurtures the art.

The .music TLD will provide the global community of music makers, music educators, music advocates, and music professionals with a unique identifier on the Internet that respects and supports intellectual property rights and facilitates the advancement of music education. The .music TLD will facilitate global collaboration among, and promote the musical identity of artists, musicians, songwriters and the professionals that support them, as well as music educators and arts-oriented policy makers through a relevant and shared website and email address suffix. The .music TLD will facilitate music creation, career development, promotion and distribution, and will serve as the artistʹs ally and advocate. Our goal is to make the .music TLD transform the current landscape by addressing the needs of artists, musicians, bands and songwriters who are looking for new ways to promote themselves and their creative work in the face of economic challenges and technology shifts that have eroded the efficacy of traditional methods of promotion.

These economic challenges and technology shifts have led many to assume that the benefit of those who produce, play or practice the art of music is at loggerheads with those who consume it. The .music TLD challenges that notion by focusing on the one thing they both have in common: a passion for music. For the music to last, there has to be a balance between the needs and desires of both. The .music TLD as envisioned will strive to do just that. Providing the music community a safe and secure platform will mitigate the fears that plague and limit the natural desire of those who produce, play or practice the art of music to express themselves and seek wider distribution for their work. In turn, this provides a wider, deeper and richer content experience for the fans and consumers of music. The era of perceived friction between the producers and consumers of music is about to end, as both find a new platform where their mutual interests and desires coalesce for the combined greater benefit.

With enhanced visibility, security and protection, the .music TLD will change how we interact with music entities on the Internet. Far Further’s vision is to be a greenhouse for musical creativity and a concourse for the promotion of music creators, resulting in frictionless delivery of their music to global audiences in an environment that respects their creative works and the rights of artists. In short, it will serve as a nexus between the music community and the Internet.

As musicians, we are challenged to keep pace with changing technology and constantly-evolving methods of accessing music. It is well known that one of the greatest concerns of this community is the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. Part of our mission is to provide a domain with safeguards from abuse and to take appropriate measures to protect the rights of creators and owners. As a restricted TLD, .music will effectively support the community’s interests in protecting IP rights and will be unavailable to those known to operate outside the legal IP paradigm.

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