.music Domain: A Verified Ending Reserved to the Music Community
.music entered the root zone on 14 October 2021 and is the newest extension examined in this catalogue. Its ICANN registry agreement is dated 4 May 2021, its type is Base, Community (Specification 12), Non-Sponsored, and the contracting party is DotMusic Limited of Limassol, Cyprus. As of 12 August 2026 the zone holds 16,435 registrations, 12,832 of them published.
Musicians, bands, labels, studios, festivals, rights societies, education projects and music publishers all register here. This is one of two endings in this group whose eligibility requirement is written into the registry agreement itself, and the registrant is verified during registration. Try candidates on the .music domain search screen, and see the .museum page for the other community extension.
The registry runs two separate gates. The first is identity verification: the registrant's email address is confirmed through a validation link and the phone number through a PIN code. The second is the Name Selection Policy: the registered name must correspond to the musician, band, company or organisation, to an acronym for it, to a name that describes the registrant, or to a name related to their mission or activities. Use is confined to music-related activity. The registry takes random compliance samples, places a non-compliant name on registry lock and terminates it if the issue is not fixed within a reasonable period.
.MUSIC Domain at a Glance
- Registry operator DotMusic Limited (Limassol, Cyprus)
- Root zone entry 14 October 2021
- Agreement type Base, Community (Specification 12), Non-Sponsored
- Zone size 16,435 registrations, 12,832 published (12 August 2026)
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .music domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.music Domain Prices — No Surprise Fees
Registration, transfer and renewal fees are listed separately. The renewal price can differ from the first-year price, so you see both up front.
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New Registration
$49.90 /year -
Transfer
$49.92 /year -
Renewal
$59.92 /year -
Restore
$144.30
Included With Every .music Domain
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Free DNS management
Change A, MX, TXT and CNAME records yourself from the panel — no waiting on anyone when you move a site or mailbox.
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Domain forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
.music Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .music domain is put on Client Hold on its expiry date, so the site and e-mail stop that same day. You can still renew during the first 20 days, but from this point a late renewal fee is added on top of the renewal price. On day 20 the registration is deleted and until day 50 only a paid restore brings it back. Nothing at all can be done in the 5 days that follow, and on day 55 the name is open to anyone. There is exactly one way never to enter this chain: keep auto-renewal on.
Domain Is Available (Available)
A .music address at this stage has not been taken yet, and it goes to whoever registers first. Check the name you have in mind — if it is free, it can be yours within minutes.
Domain Is Active (Active Period)
Once registration is complete, the domain is registered to you for the term you selected. You can renew at any point before it expires to keep it active, or switch on auto-renewal so you never have to watch the date.
Renewal Window (Client Hold)
On its expiry date your .music domain is put on Client Hold: the site and e-mail go down that day, but the registration is still yours. A single renewal within these first 20 days brings everything back exactly as it was — nothing is lost. The only difference is that a late renewal fee is now added to the renewal price; renewing before the expiry date avoids that fee entirely.
Redemption Period (Redemption / RGP)
On day 20 the registration is deleted and the 30-day redemption period that ICANN requires of every gTLD registry begins. The name is not released to anyone during this time; only you can take it back, by paying the restore fee, until day 50. That fee is far higher than a renewal — renewing on time is always the cheaper route.
Pending Delete (Pending Delete)
Once the redemption window closes too, the domain enters its final 5 days and there is no way back. Neither renewal nor restore works here; nobody — your registrar included — can return the name to you. The registry uses this window as the last hold before the name goes back into the pool.
Open to Anyone Again (Released)
On day 55 the name .music returns to the pool and anyone can register it. Sought-after names are often gone within seconds, and there is no guaranteed way to get one back. Yet staying out of this timeline is entirely in your hands: leave auto-renewal on and the expiry date will never catch you off guard.
The timeline above is the schedule Atak Domain applies and publishes. The ICANN chart you will find elsewhere shows a renewal window of up to 45 days after expiry; ICANN's policy on expired registrations (section 2.2.1) lets registrars delete an expired domain at any time, provided they disclose their policy in advance. We apply that window as 20 days and publish it here in plain sight. Full text of the policy: ICANN Expired Registration Recovery Policy
.music Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.music Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .music domain
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.music Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .music Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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Only members of the Music Community may register. The agreement defines this as a community extension, and registration is open to those who comply with the values, purpose and mission of the TLD. That community is not limited to performers; it takes in labels, studios, festivals, rights societies and music educators. Check whether a name is free on the .music search page.
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In two steps. The registry confirms the registrant's email address through a validation link it sends, and the phone number through a validated PIN code. Once both steps complete, the registrant receives their community membership details, and later names tied to the same verified email address are not re-verified. Supply a working address and phone number at the application stage for that reason.
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No. The Name Selection Policy defines four permitted correspondences: the name of the musician, band, company or organisation; an acronym corresponding to it; a name that recognises or describes the registrant; or a name related to their mission or activities. A reserved protection list is also kept for well-known music brands and platinum-certified artists. Test candidate names together on the bulk domain search screen beforehand.
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Music-related content only. Beyond that the use policy prohibits illegal content, posting material that infringes others' intellectual property, registering in bad faith a name carrying an established music brand, and automated harvesting of data from the service. Compliance is monitored through a dispute procedure and random checks. Keep the rights position documented for everything you publish.
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Yes, the extension follows gTLD transfer rules. Obtain the authorisation code, lift the transfer lock and start the request at the new registrar, having confirmed in advance that it carries this extension. The receiving party must also meet the community eligibility in its own right. Check the record via whois search and begin at the domain transfer page.
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Keep the audio off the origin server. Serving files straight from it burns through bandwidth quickly, so hand the stream to a suitable delivery layer and keep the page light. Separate frequently changing sections such as tour dates and ticket links from the cached parts. Serve the address over HTTPS: choose a certificate on the SSL certificate page and an environment on the hosting page.
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