Shufti Pro and .MUSIC partner to authenticate music identities and protect global music community against AI impersonation

22 May 2024 - Press release

In the new age of AI-powered musical impersonation, deepfakes and bots, an artist's greatest asset in the digital world is their Name, Image, Likeness, and Voice (NILV). Today, identity verification is essential to ensure trust, integrity, and authenticity. .MUSIC and global identity verification provider Shufti Pro are partnering to authenticate the digital identity of the entire global music community to create a trusted ecosystem of verified artists, creators, industry professionals, organizations, businesses, and brands under the .MUSIC top-level domain. 

With support in over 200 countries, ShuftiPro offers an identity verification solution that globally validates people and organizations using a combination of government IDs and biometrics. For Shufti Pro, the go-to experts for identity verification in highly regulated industries like banking, fintech, and healthcare, .Music is a first-of-its-kind partnership in a completely new space.  

"Our partnership with .MUSIC marks a pivotal moment for global identity verification in the music industry," says Shufti Pro CEO Patrick Cox. "We are excited to set a new industry standard for identity authentication for artists, bands, industry professionals, organizations and other members of the global music community."

While critical work is being done to develop policies protecting artists and their NILV against deepfakes and stolen IP, legislation takes time to pass and only has a national effect. Shufti Pro's ID verification is cross-platform and global–providing far-reaching protection. Thanks to this new partnership with Shufti Pro, all companies and individual members who register a .MUSIC domain will be vetted and their identities verified. By ensuring that every .MUSIC domain is owned by the creator or brand who claims to own it, the two companies will create a safe, secure, and transparent music ecosystem in which everyone can easily determine who is sharing any information or content.

"This collaboration is a critical development for safeguarding the music community's digital identity and creating a trusted, secure and authentic music-centric Internet for the global music community and industry to safely connect, engage and transact," says .MUSIC Founder and CEO Constantine Roussos. "Having a verified global music identity is the only way to streamline royalty collection and the licensing process of obtaining NILV permission directly from the authorized source to enable proper provenance, attribution and compensation."

After more than a decade-long battle to secure the exclusive rights to the .MUSIC top-level domain name, the .MUSIC registry is launching globally. For the first time in the Internet age, the global music community and industry will be able to register their .MUSIC names in a trusted, secure, and safe manner without the fear of impersonators, cybersquatters, or AI bots. 

The global launch of .MUSIC has started with great anticipation and excitement, with many famous music artists and brands registering their .MUSIC names. These include Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Whitney Houston, Universal, Sony, Warner, Spotify, Soundcloud, Deezer, Tencent, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Apple, Google, YouTube, Meta, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Amazon, Twitch, Reddit, Coachella, iHeart, CBS, NBC, MGM, Shopify, Hilton, Uber, BMW, Rolex, Prada, Andreesen Horowitz, a16z and many others.

"We are committed to ensuring that every verified artist and music community member is able to interact in a secure, authentic and genuine digital space," says Marina Roussou of id.MUSIC, the exclusive global identity provider for .MUSIC. "Verified MusicIDs will enable artists to protect their name, image, likeness and voice against AI deep fakes, impersonators and bots to preserve the integrity of everyone in the music industry."