The Academy Gets a Little More .country

SANTA MONICA, California and DUBLIN, December 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The Academy of Country Music, ACM, has partnered with Minds + Machines to become a Pioneer for the new .country top-level domain. ACM has registered numerous .country domains including acm.country, acmawards.country, and academy.country.

ACM will join a line of country artists such as Dolly Parton, Eli Young Band, Chase Rice, and Sam Hunt in the Pioneer Program that looks to help market and provide awareness of the new top-level domain.

The launch of the top-level domain by registry operator Minds + Machines, in association with Uniregistry, is part of a revolutionary restructuring of the Internet's naming system that gives people a choice of relevant and affordable domain names.

Lisa Lee, ACM's Senior Vice President of Creative & Content Production for the Academy, stated:

"We are thrilled to join in this cutting-edge launch of the .country TLD with ACM.country. The ACM brand exudes excellence in country music's past, present and future, and we are excited to take on .country as we head into the new year - the biggest in the Academy's history."

Other names taken by ACM in .country include liftinglives.country, fanjam.country, and allstarjam.country, all major events held by the Academy.

Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines, commented:

"The Academy of Country Music was the first to have the vision to promote country music with a country music awards show and it is only fitting that we have current Academy visionaries join us in promoting country music through a massive transformation of the Internet. I couldn't be more thrilled to have the ACM be a part of something that so many are passionate about, country music."

ACM will use their new .country domains to promote their events. For example, liftinglives.country will be a freestanding page that is dedicated to ACM's golf tournament, Lifting Lives Golf Classic, which is a charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. ACM Lifting Lives develops and funds music-related therapy and education programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships.

Country music is the No. 1 radio format in the United States as well as having an extremely diverse and growing fan base. The Academy of Country Music is a part of this success and is filled with great tradition and future success as it is going on its 50th year of the ACM Awards.

Domain names in .country launched on 15 September 2014 and are now available to the public. To register a name within .country, go to http://www.mindsandmachines.com/country or http://www.uniregistry.com, or contact any leading registrar. The .country top-level domain is a joint venture by Minds + Machines and Uniregistry.

About Minds + Machines 

For further information on Minds + Machines and its services, please go to http://www.mindsandmachines.com

About Uniregistry 

Further information on Uniregistry can be found at http://uniregistry.com

SOURCE Minds + Machines