.audio

Overview

• .audio is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) that was applied for under ICANN's New gTLD Program.
• The string is categorized among Media new gTLDs.
• The gTLD was delegated to the DNS Root Zone on 15 May 2014 and is operated by Uniregistry.

History

Application and Applicants

• .audio was one of the strings applied for in ICANN's New gTLD Program (Reveal Day: 13 June 2012).
• Uniregistry Corp., founded by domain investor Frank Schilling, applied for .audio as part of a group of applications (the company applied for 54 gTLDs).
• Donuts (Holly Castle, LLC), which applied for many gTLDs, was a previous applicant involved in contention for the string and had submitted a Public Interest Commitment for its application.

Private Deal and Contention Resolution

• In February 2014 Uniregistry and Donuts reached a private deal resolving contention between the two companies for several strings.
• As part of that resolution, Donuts became sole applicant for .furniture, .auction, and .gratis, while Uniregistry secured .audio and .juegos.

Contract and Delegation

• ICANN issued a Registry Agreement signed for .audio to Uniregistry on 20 March 2014.
• .audio was delegated to the Root Zone on 15 May 2014, completing the delegation process.

Usage and Audience

• The string is listed under the Media category for new gTLDs, indicating relevance to media- and audio-related uses.
• As a literal string (.audio), it is naturally aligned with audio, music, podcasting, and other sound-related content and services.

Notable Cases or Examples

• The notable private deal between Uniregistry and Donuts (February 2014) resolved contention for .audio and a few other strings, with Uniregistry ultimately obtaining .audio.
• Key dates: Registry Agreement signed 20 March 2014; delegation to the Root Zone on 15 May 2014.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       AUDIO

organisation: XYZ.COM LLC
address:      4425 Spring Mountain Rd., Suite 2
address:      Las Vegas NV 89102
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         General Counsel
organisation: XYZ.COM LLC
address:      2121 E Tropicana Ave, Suite 2
address:      Las Vegas NV 89119
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1 702 763 2191
e-mail:       hello@xyz.com

contact:      technical
name:         CTO
organisation: CentralNic
address:      Saddlers House, 4th Floor
address:      44 Gutter Lane
address:      London EC2V 6BR
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 20 33 88 0600
fax-no:       +44 20 33 88 0601
e-mail:       tld.ops@centralnic.com

nserver:      A.NIC.AUDIO 194.169.218.150 2001:67c:13cc:0:0:0:1:150
nserver:      B.NIC.AUDIO 185.24.64.150 2a04:2b00:13cc:0:0:0:1:150
nserver:      C.NIC.AUDIO 212.18.248.150 2a04:2b00:13ee:0:0:0:0:150
nserver:      D.NIC.AUDIO 212.18.249.150 2a04:2b00:13ff:0:0:0:0:150
ds-rdata:     12469 13 2 6673f52c4723441eb134383895d5e984798679cb532730038373724eb0639a69

whois:        whois.nic.audio

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://nic.audio

created:      2014-05-08
changed:      2025-08-12
source:       IANA